History Film / Hush

Notably, the novelist in question is seen working on a novel titled ''The Midnight Mass''. Said novel would make a cameo appearance in Flanagan's later film ''Literature/GeraldsGame'', and Flanagan is currently working on adapting this fictional novel into a miniseries for Netflix.

* MalevolentMaskedMan: But he removes it not even an hour into the film after Maddie tells him she hasn't seen his face and won't tell anyone she saw him.

* NoNameGiven: The killer is never named, and he's credited simply as "Man".

''Hush'' is a 2016 psychological horror film directed by Creator/MikeFlanagan, and stars co-writer Kate Siegel (Flanagan's wife), Creator/JohnGallagherJr, and Michael Trucco.

''Hush'' is a 2016 psychological horror film directed by Mike Flanagan (''Film/{{Absentia}}'', ''Film/{{Oculus}}''), and stars co-writer Kate Siegel (Flanagan's wife), Creator/JohnGallagherJr, and Michael Trucco.

* CombatPragmatist: After the killer [[spoiler: finally gets into the kitchen to kill Maddie, by this point she's already resolved to kill him first. She uses her smoke detector, which is loud as all hell and flashes very brightly, to disorient him by holding it directly in his face, blinds him with bug spray during their struggle, and when he's has her pinned and almost strangled her to death, she manages to reach for a corkscrew lying across from her and drive it through his neck, delivering the killing blow.]]

* TheHermit: Maddie, who has apparently been living alone for about a year now, with only her cat and neighbors to keep her company.

** She also uses a hammer, a kitchen knife, a can of pesticide, and even a smoke alarm.

* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: John, briefly.]]
* OneWordTitle
* PrecisionFStrike:
-->'''The Man:''' You fucking cunt.
* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler: The Killer gets nearly strangled to death by John, shot in the chest with his own crossbow, has a kitchen knife stabbed up to its handle into his leg, has bug spray shot in his eyes, and finally dies by having a corkscrew driven through his throat. Downplayed, however, as each wound clearly severely hampers him and he's clearly enraged by the end likely driving him via adrenaline rush.]]

* RedHerring: The beginning of the film makes it seem as if Maddie's needy ex-boyfriend Craig will enter the picture at some point later in the film. He never shows up. [[spoiler: Sarah's boyfriend John does, though.]]

* SacrificialLamb: Sarah.

* SilentAntagonist: At least until he takes off his mask.
* SlashedThroat: How [[spoiler: John]] meets his end. [[spoiler: Also a slight subversion in that the killer clearly expects John to just lie down and die as soon as his windpipe is cut, but he puts up a good long fight before he expires.]]

* TheSociopath: The killer, obviously. He has a serious LackOfEmpathy, is seemingly doing all this for stimulation including drawing things out needlessly for the fun of it, and his FatalFlaw is his grandiose sense of self worth.
* SoftSpokenSadist: The killer never raises his voice in anger and retains a calm demeanor, even when his anger is visible in his words. Despite this, he's clearly a hedonistic SerialKiller.

* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: The SerialKiller looks relatively normal underneath his mask and is also of rather average build. This is all the more noticeable because he removes his mask very early on, as most of his fright factor comes from his expressions rather than his appearance.

* WhiteMaskOfDoom: It's right there in the poster.
** [[spoiler: Despite the killer's face not being shown in any promotional material, he actually removes the mask very early in the film and never puts it back on.]]

** The killer pulls this on [[spoiler: John when he arrives,]] pretending to be a police officer who was knocked out while investigating an emergency call. Given the killer's very apparent sketchiness, [[spoiler: John]] doesn't buy it for long, especially when [[spoiler:Sarah's earring falls out of his pocket.]]
** [[spoiler:Maddie turns the tables on him by pretending to be more incapacitated than she actually is, luring him close enough to spray bug spray in his eyes.]]

''Hush'' is a 2016 psychological horror film directed by Mike Flanagan (''Film/{{Absentia}}'', ''Film/{{Oculus}}''), and stars co-writer Kate Siegel (Flanagan's wife), John Gallagher Jr., and Michael Trucco.

''Hush'' is a 2016 psychological horror film directed by Mike Flanagan (''Film/{{Absentia}}'', ''Film/{{Oculus}}''), and stars co-writer Kate Siegel (Flanagan's wife).

* ImprovisedWeapon: Maddie [[spoiler: finishes off the killer by shish-kebabing his throat with a corkscrew.]]

* FatalFlaw: The killer, being a sociopath, has pride as his. He's so sure of himself that he's in control of the situation that he repeatedly makes mistakes.

* CombatPragmatist: After the killer [[spoiler: finally gets into the kitchen to kill Maddie, by this point she's already resolved to kill him first. She uses her smoke detector, which is loud as all hell and flashes very brightly, to disorient him by holding it directly in his face, blinds him with bug spray, and when he's has her pinned and almost strangled her to death, she manages to reach for a corkscrew lying across from her and drive it through his neck, delivering the killing blow.]]

* CombatPragmatist: After the killer [[spoiler: gets into the kitchen to finally kill Maddie, by this point she's already resolved to kill him first. She uses her smoke detector, which is loud as all hell and flashes very brightly, to disorient him by holding it directly in his face, blinds him with bug spray, and when he's almost strangled her to death, she manages to reach for a corkscrew and drive it through his neck, delivering the killing blow.]]

* AwesomenessByAnalysis: {{Downplayed}}. During the climax, [[spoiler: Maddie uses her "writing voice" to consider multiple scenarios which all end in her death, before figuring out what she has to do.]]

** [[spoiler:Plus some FridgeHorror when you realize the killer probably crushed her hand beyond the point of healing. That'll make typing and signing much harder, seriously impeding her ability to communicate whatsoever. Though there is the possibility of reconstructive surgery so it's not TOO bad.]]
* BottomlessMagazines: Subverted, the Killer clearly only has a finite number of crossbow bolts and is actively shown retrieving them after firing them.
* BrickJoke: Maddie calls her cat a bitch a few times early in the film because it apparently escapes frequently, and even teaches Sarah the sign for the word. Later on, when [[spoiler: the killer checks the cat's tag to see if it's Maddie's, it turns out her name actually is "Bitch"]].

* CellPhonesAreUseless: {{Subverted}}. The killer confiscates all of the phones [[spoiler: and cuts power to the house so Maddie can't even call 911 over Facetime.]]

* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler: Maddie almost loses her life at several points in the film, first from massive blood loss and then from strangulation. She manages to be the only onscreen character to survive.]]
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: John gets his throat slashed by the killer. As the killer investigates, John leaps forward and puts him in a chokehold, yelling for Maddie to run. She can't run because of the possibility of her death and he bleeds to death before he can choke the killer to death, but it's the thought that counts.]]

* ForTheEvulz: The unnamed killer has no apparent motivation except to harm and kill for fun. [[JustifiedTrope This is likely true]] for [[TruthInTelevision many actual serial killers though]].
* HandicappedBadass: Maddie, [[spoiler: by the end of the movie.]]

* TheHermit: Maddie, who has apparently been living alone for about a year now.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Maddie manages to shoot the killer with his own crossbow. While it's not enough to ''kill'' him, it hinders him.]]

* ImplacableMan: Downplayed with the killer: while he can take a decent amount of punishment and is relentless in his pursuit of his victims, he still reacts to pain even if he's able to keep coming quickly. [[spoiler:During the climax, the damage he's taking begins to clearly hinder him even if he powers through it.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:The killer kills John by stabbing him in the throat and John bleeds to death while trying to straggle him. Maddie ultimately kills him the exact same way.]]

* LogicalWeakness: The serial killer might be a dangerous sociopath, but he's still a normal human. He's not omniscient like many killers and has to actively ''find'' Maddie to do anything to her. Maddie takes advantage of this to trick him multiple times. [[spoiler:He also still needs to ''see'' and ''hear'', as such having an intentionally overpowered fire alarm go off directly in his face incapacitates him and nearly gives Maddie the opening to finish him.]]
* MaleGaze: We get a good look at Sarah's cellphone for a few seconds ... which is in the back of her pants pocket.
* MalevolentMaskedMan: But he removes it not even an hour into the film after Maddie tells him she hasn't seen his face and won't tell anyone she saw him to shoot down that excuse.
* MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes: Maddie experiences this when [[spoiler: the killer strangles her until she was close to dying, causing her life to flash in front of her eyes.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Maddie frantically pounds on the door in an attempt to let John know not to trust the killer. She doesn't know he's already figured it out, and the distraction allows the man to stab John in the throat, killing him.]]

* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:The Killer gets nearly strangled to death by John, shot in the chest with his own crossbow, has a kitchen knife stabbed up to its handle into his leg, has bug spray shot in his eyes, and finally dies by having a corkscrew driven through his throat. Downplayed, however, as each wound clearly severely hampers him and he's clearly enraged by the end likely driving him via adrenaline rush.]]

** [[spoiler:The killer is bigger and stronger than Maddie and Sarah, but John is bigger and stronger than ''him''. The killer outright admits that if he'd had to fight him head on, he'd have lost, and even with a SlashedThroat, John nearly kills him.]]

* TheSociopath: The killer, obviously. He has a serious LackOfEmpathy, is seemingly doing all this for stimulation including drawing things out needlessly for the fun of it, and his FatalFlaw is his grandiose sense of self worth. He's also able to do a fair job of pretending to be a cop when [[spoiler:John, and it's only when he sees the trophy the killer took from Sarah that he realizes it's a farce]].

* TattooedCrook: The unnamed serial killer has a visible tattoo on his neck.
* TemptingFate: [[spoiler:The killer comments on how Maddie will likely try and shoot him and miss. Cue her shooting him in the chest and wounding him.]]

* TiredOfRunning: [[spoiler:Maddie decides to stop running after the killer kills John and start fighting back.]]
--> '''Maddie''': [[spoiler: (in her head) Can't run, hide, or wait. What does that leave? (sign language) Kill him.]]
* TooDumbToLive: The killer, surprisingly. He treats the situation like a game and has little to no sense of caution. His willingness to write off Maddie or [[spoiler: John]] as mere victims he could play with nearly gets him killed more than once. [[spoiler: His random decision to steal one of Sarah's earrings as a trophy is what gives him away to John later. Near the end, he actually stops to smoke a cigarette and have a conversation with Maddie's cat. If he wasn't so concerned with describing to the cat how he intended to nail it to the door, he might have avoided that arrow to the chest.]] His SuicidalOverconfidence hinders him every step of the way.

* TraumaCongaLine: Oh boy, does Maddie have a bad night. [[spoiler: She is psychologically tormented by a killer who knows she is deaf and mute and exploits it as cruelly as possible. She is faced with the vicious killings of her neighbors Sarah and John, and the knowledge that their deaths are partially her fault. She is also horribly wounded throughout the night, getting an arrow shot into her thigh, her hand smashed and stomped, badly kicked and beaten, nearly strangled, and losing a lot of blood.]] This is all on top of her tragic backstory in which she lost her ability to speak and hear as a teenage girl.

* WeaponOfChoice: The SerialKiller uses a crossbow and a combat knife as his prefered murder weapons.

* DisabledBadass: Maddie.

* SoftSpokenSadist: The killer never raises his voice in anger and retains a calm demeanor. Despite this, he's clearly a hedonistic SerialKiller.

** The killer pulls this on [[spoiler: John when he arrives,]] pretending to be a police officer who was knocked out while investigating an emergency call. Given the killer's very apparent sketchiness, [[spoiler: John]] doesn't buy it for long.

** Maddie manages to [[spoiler:steal the killer's crossbow, but has an unbelievably difficult time trying to load it, given her inexperience with such a weapon.]]

* RasputianDeath: [[spoiler:The Killer gets nearly strangled to death by John, shot in the chest with his own crossbow, has a kitchen knife stabbed up to its handle into his leg, has bug spray shot in his eyes, and finally dies by having a corkscrew driven through his throat. Downplayed, however, as each wound clearly severely hampers him and he's clearly enraged by the end likely driving him via adrenaline rush.]]

* RasputianDeath: [[spoiler:The Killer gets nearly strangled to death by John, shot in the chest with his own crossbow, has a kitchen knife stabbed up to its handle into his leg, has bug spray shot in his eyes, and finally dies by having a cork driven through his throat. Downplayed, however, as each wound clearly severely hampers him.]]

* LogicalWeakness: The serial killer might be a dangerous sociopath, but he's still a normal human. He's not omniscient like many killers and has to actively ''find'' Maddie to do anything to her. Maddie takes advantage of this to trick him multiple times.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: The killer pulls this on [[spoiler: John when he arrives,]] pretending to be a police officer who was knocked out while investigating an emergency call. Given the killer's very apparent sketchiness, [[spoiler: John]] doesn't buy it for long.

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: John gets his throat slashed by the killer. As the killer investigates, John leaps forward and puts him in a chokehold, yelling for Maddie to run. She can't run because of the possibility of her death, but it's the thought that counts.]]

* RealityEnsues: Maddie manages to [[spoiler:steal the killer's crossbow, but has an unbelievably difficult time trying to load it, given her inexperience with such a weapon.]]

* TheSociopath: The killer, obviously. He has a serious LackOfEmpathy, is seemingly doing all this for stimulation including drawing things out needlessly for the fun of it, and his FatalFlaw is his grandiose sense of self worth.