Somewhere Quiet is an American psychological thriller movie released in 2023. It was written and directed by Olivia West Lloyd, in her directorial debut. It stars Jennifer Kim as Meg, Kentucker Audley as Scott, Michael Richardson as Joe, and Marin Ireland as Madelin.
The movie was first shown at the Tribeca Festival on June 8, 2023, and was released in US theaters on February 2, 2024. Somewhere Quiet has left any unanswered questions at the end. Did Meg truly escape, and what does her journey mean?
Somewhere Quiet shows Meg trying to recover from a tragic incident involving her kidnapping. Scott, her husband, is trying to help her get over it and thus plans to take Meg to Cape Cod for a break and her safety. But it turned out that moving to Cape Cod brought more problems for them. They started to have strange and unexpected visitors, hallucinations, and growing fear.
The synopsis of Somewhere Quiet reads:
"A woman tries to return to normal after a kidnapping. Her sense of reality begins to deteriorate when she travels to her husband's family compound."
Somewhere Quiet: What is the movie about?
Somewhere Quiet explores topics like isolation, betrayal, and the challenge of hallucination. Meg's story shows how deeply trauma affects a person's ability to trust anyone and makes them feel unsafe even when their environment is secure and safe.
Somewhere Quiet shows an unclear ending and hints that even though Meg gets away from her immediate threats, the emotional wounds and the results of her choices leave her in a shaky and uncertain situation.
The end of the movie highlights the struggles and impacts of trauma on an individual. Though Meg overcame the immediate troubles, her fight with her past continues.
The end of the film emphasizes how widespread trauma is and how complicated it is to heal from it. Meg's escape isn't shown as a big win but as a continuing fight against her past and the unknown of what's ahead.
Somewhere Quiet questions the possibility of true recovery and the long-lasting shadows cast by betrayal and trauma.
Meg's road to recovery
After the kidnapping incident, Meg wanted to stay somewhere in peace and wanted some isolation, so they went to Cape Cod. However, things resulted completely opposite to what she thought.
When the couple went to Cape Cod, they were disturbed by the arrival of Scott’s cousin Madelin. Madelin doesn't understand Meg's pain and flirts with Scott, making Meg feel more anxious and suspicious.
Things get worse when Meg starts seeing a ghostly old woman and almost gets attacked by a stranger on the beach. These events make Meg more paranoid and unsure about what is real.
Madelin and Scott’s relationship increases the tension throughout the movie. Their casual and friendly interactions make Meg feel left out, as if she does not belong there.
The way they don't show any care for her makes it seem like they might be involved in her kidnapping or just don't care about her pain. This situation makes Meg feel even more alone and makes her more suspicious.
The story becomes darker when Meg kills Madelin’s dog by mistake while trying to escape on a dirt bike. This causes a big fight, during which Scott admits that he got a ransom video for Meg, but he couldn’t watch it on time as he was with Madelin.
He tells Meg that he thought she was dead and had already mourned her, which makes her very angry. During these discussions, Scott loses his control and tries to kill Meg out of rage. But during their fight, Meg kills Scott and manages to escape.
At the end of Somewhere Quiet, Meg takes a car and drives away but then she understands she doesn't have a place to go. Even though she feels free for a little while but is left alone and isn’t sure what to do next.
The last scene shows Meg alone with police sirens in the background, which shows how much pain she's in because of what happened to her and how she acted out of fear.
Somewhere Quiet is now streaming on Hulu.