Featured Audience Ratings

• Jake .

  
  I haven't seen a movie quite like Lorna's Silence for a long time. I really do love these films that are just so pretentious, exadurated, and melodramatic, yet strangly plausible. For the most part the audience has to figure out what is going on for themselves. This really… More
  I haven't seen a movie quite like Lorna's Silence for a long time. I really do love these films that are just so pretentious, exadurated, and melodramatic, yet strangly plausible. For the most part the audience has to figure out what is going on for themselves. This really works well, especially since the plot is relatively simple. At the same time it is thoroughly engrossing to watch. I have no idea if the whole citizenship underground/espionage actually exists, but it is fasinating on-screen. Lorna's Silence does absolutely everything you would expect from a film of its prestige and style; and to top it off, its really rather good.

• William D

  
  "Lorna's Silence," the new film from Belgium's Dardenne brothers, effectively creates a frightening vision of a world filled with people almost completely lacking empathy. But the story drags in the second half, and the film has an almost polemical edge that… More
  "Lorna's Silence," the new film from Belgium's Dardenne brothers, effectively creates a frightening vision of a world filled with people almost completely lacking empathy. But the story drags in the second half, and the film has an almost polemical edge that weakens its power. The characters start to seem like artificial fabrications meant to drive home the Dardennes' socio-political critiques. The protagonists are Albanians who have built an elaborate scam to benefit Russians and other Easterners trying to get citizenship in the European Union. Deeply disturbing is the cold, matter-of-fact way they put value on the lives of others. Lorna, the main character, is the only woman in the group. I don't want to reveal all the details, so let's just say that Lorna sees this lack of empathy for others most vividly. Her central dilemma is whether to continue in this life or make some changes. Her struggle is profound, and the lives of several others hang in the balance. My problem is that the Albanians' complete amorality starts to seem phony. European filmmakers frequently try to fit life into their theories, rather than trying to build theories that match life. Here I felt the Dardennes were driven to convey a message about contemporary society, and they developed arch caricatures of people to drive that message home. But I wouldn't push this criticism too far. "Lorna's Silence" is still an important and very good film and should be seen by anyone who appreciates serious cinema. Just don't watch it when you're feeling fragile. The film does have the power to be deeply disturbing despite the fact that there's not one iota of on-screen violence. Its power to disturb is far more subtle.

• Gordon A

  
  Moving portrayal of a woman's struggle for financial security in a shady world of unscrupulous men. Dobroshi gives a wonderfully understated but nuanced performance as Lorna's detached facade cracks and her emotions win through.

• Walter M

  
  In "Lorna's Silence," Lorna(Arta Dobroshi), originally from Albania, is almost a Belgian citizen which means that her husband Claudy(Jeremie Renier), a junky, has almost outlived his usefulness. Fabio's(Fabrizio Rongione) idea is to kill him, making it look like… More
  In "Lorna's Silence," Lorna(Arta Dobroshi), originally from Albania, is almost a Belgian citizen which means that her husband Claudy(Jeremie Renier), a junky, has almost outlived his usefulness. Fabio's(Fabrizio Rongione) idea is to kill him, making it look like an overdose which would be simple enough. But after about six months living together, she has taken pity on him during his latest attempt to get clean. So, she bangs herself up to try to make it look like Claudy has been beating her(but not too much to get him arrested) in order to get a quicky divorce. But first, she has to be sure that her next spouse, a Russian, will wait long enough, in order to collect the money from this deal for her and her lover Sokol(Alban Ukaj) to open their dream snack bar. With "Lorna's Silence," the Dardenne brothers get perilously close to sentimentality in telling a story set in the underground economy where human beings are often reduced to just mere commodities. Fighting this inhumanity and making sacrifices like any other immigrant, this is the world Lorna is caught up in, hoping to move onto a more stable life. As the risks are high, so are the rewards, even if not entirely on a material level.

• Jeff T

  
  The Dardennes brothers make some of the most rigorously moral and riveting films in current cinema. If LORNA'S SILENCE lacks a little of their usual bleak, brutal bite, it is still a riveting example of two filmmakers who seem to always be working at their peak. The story of an… More
  The Dardennes brothers make some of the most rigorously moral and riveting films in current cinema. If LORNA'S SILENCE lacks a little of their usual bleak, brutal bite, it is still a riveting example of two filmmakers who seem to always be working at their peak. The story of an incredibly practical young woman caught in a web of her own making, and her (possible) moral reawakening, if you haven't seen any of their other, probably greater, films (THE CHILD, THE PROMISE), this is a great place to start. If you have seen them, you'll already have made a place on your calendar for this. So I'm not even speaking to you.

• John B

  
  Seriously. Are some of my reviews vanishing? I can swear that I already talked about this one. I love everything that the Dardennes put together and this is no exception. Very strong performance from Arta Dobroshi here as a young woman who must do what she needs to do to survive.… More
  Seriously. Are some of my reviews vanishing? I can swear that I already talked about this one. I love everything that the Dardennes put together and this is no exception. Very strong performance from Arta Dobroshi here as a young woman who must do what she needs to do to survive. Gripping.

• Daisy M

  
  After seeing Rosetta, I was kinda disappointed with that movie from the Dardennes brothers and it was not my favorite. Now Le Silence of Lorna is their latest and I decided to give it a try, and I was happy I did. The story was fairly interesting,complex and well written. The way it… More
  After seeing Rosetta, I was kinda disappointed with that movie from the Dardennes brothers and it was not my favorite. Now Le Silence of Lorna is their latest and I decided to give it a try, and I was happy I did. The story was fairly interesting,complex and well written. The way it was directed and the psychological darkness of this movie will leave some people guessing the motivations and the reasons why the main characters do what they do. The protagonist is brilliantly portrayed by Arta Dobroshi.I dont know her before. But once again, her interpretation of her character was so depressed and real. On the other side, that is what makes it just interesting from a point of view. This movie is the journey of a woman in a very particular situation. It's a tragedy. Very good. Worth to watch !!

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