"Silencio" is an interesting thriller that makes use of science as a clever premise for a magical cobalt stone that will bring a loved one back to life. It is not truly a science fiction movie, but a drama sprinkled with a patina of science.
There is good background presented on the The Mapimí Silent Zone in Mexico, which, according to legend, is a region that is unreachable by any type of radio signals or electronic communications. On July 11, 1970, there was a rocket crash on the site of the Bolson de Mapimí that led to a scare with radioactive debris that required a massive clean-up.
A pilot named Francisco Sarabia was the first individual to identify the silence of the desert. The area is between the 26th and 28th Parallels and on a direct line with the Bermuda Triangle and the Pyramids of ancient Egypt. Dr. W. James Downs is mentioned in the film as the expert in this field of inquiry.
There was also an earlier event in the Silent Zone that was the crash into earth of the Allende meteorite, a fireball that touched down over the Mexican state of Chihuahua on February 8, 1969. The film even suggests that the magical land in the barren Mexico desert was the location of another meteorite crash from the Jurassic era. With all of this background worked cleverly into the film with a scientist's lecture, "Silencio" might be re-titled "Jurassic Park in Desert."
One of the scientists on the mission was a British chap, Dr. James White, who discovered a cobalt stone on site, which was probably debris from the Allende meteorite. Due to his butterfingers, he dropped the stone, which revealed its magical powers to him. The untoward result is that he saved the life of his granddaughter Ana, who is a psychiatrist and the film's protagonist.
The film takes all of the scientific background and makes everything very simple for the audience to understand. The theme of the magical rock is that it "balances things out," giving a life back while taking one in return.
The plot gets convoluted with a kidnapping, the attack on the kind grampa, an accidental act of infanticide, brutal revenge tactics with a fireplace poker, the appearance of ghosts from the past, and weapons drawn in a climactic shoot-out. All of the action is in the service of romancing the stone.
Although the film tended to fall apart in logic at the end, it was nonetheless a good watch. The fresh faces of new actors was a treat, and the film was nicely conceived by a female writer-director. All of the roles were interesting, but I especially liked the eccentric but lovable grampa.
