The Look of Silence

PG-13

Released Jul 17, 2015

1 hr. 39 min.

Documentary

List

96%

141 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

An optician confronts the men who killed the brother that he never knew during the 1960s Indonesian genocide.

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Critics Consensus

The Look of Silence delivers a less shocking -- yet just as terribly compelling -- companion piece to Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing.

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Audience Member

A superb documentary! How the killers are so non-remorseful, bragging about their "proud". Even would like to bring a knife to mimic the murder scene and try their best to precisely show the brutal actions.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

William L

The Look of Silence is far more conventionally structured than Oppenheimer's original documentary of the Indonesian killings, presenting the murders from the perspective of a survivor confronting the men that killed his brother. Initially, it's a rather poor comparison to its predecessor, lingering on tortured expressions of its subject listening to recordings of his brother's murderers describe with pride and in detail the gruesome nature of their crimes. But it's all a careful building process; in The Act of Killing Oppenheimer removed himself from the on-screen content to let his subjects dig their own moral graves with their testimonials, but in The Look of Silence his protagonist actively interacts with the monsters that murdered a million 'dissidents' pushing back against their denials of responsibility and extraordinarily misplaced pride. The key aspect of the film is the rationalizations that the guards, militia members, and politicians present when confronted with the reality of their past actions; they claim that they were 'protecting the state', following orders, or maintaining peace - none accept responsibility (including the uncle of the murdered Ramli). Some lash out, directly threatening the nameless man and his efforts to dredge up what they consider the past, misdeeds that have been washed clean by time and the fact that they still maintain influence. They've created this false reality in which they are blameless heroes of a trying time, leading a country built on bloodshed that younger citizens would rather see through rose-colored glasses. Those with a sense of shame (or at least a better understanding of morality) claim indifference, and tout healing as the best means of moving forward, without accepting blame. One of the last segments of the film is the most trying, where a 'respected' former enforcer proudly testifies of his prior actions in front of his daughter, who is visibly terrified; it's only her reaction that causes the former militia man to show discomfort rather than the reality of his past. The film moves from explicitly a political and social documentary of a single event (where the horror lies in the lack of development and justice) to a chronicle of generational change. What endures, what changes, and by how much. The Look of Silence is an important companion piece Oppenheimer's original film, tackling the same content in a completely different way; it's superficially less innovative, but no less powerful. (4.5/5)

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/02/21

Full Review

Audience Member

Documentaries pursue the truth then expose them and wait for whatever impacts shall be made for the better changes. Most subjects call for help, sympathy and urgent changes by awareness, which the latter word is only limited for some due to unfortunate circumstances whereas a force behind would falsely deny it and heartlessly, or inhumanly, keeps it going. This very documentary, that serves as a companion piece to its yet unseen predecessor, checks across the previous sentence in a dangerously brave approach that unveils ranks of evil as a collaborative form under dictatorship with zero "moral" defense. Similar documentaries facing murderers would bring chills like in "The Thin Blue Line", but this one just outrages and disturbs how they blend in with power and zero remorse while keeping the people in silent check or else they'll strike again like before and add more innocents to their number. Joshua Oppenheimer once again assisted the victims by exposing the oppressors who violently took a number of their families nearly 60 years ago in the still raw follow-up with an unexpected narrative-like structure. (B+)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not as chilling as the predecessor, the Look of Silence still performs with the protagonist Adi as he journeys on road to confront the men who were behind the "communist exterminations" and personally, his brother's brutal death. For me, the best parts were watching his gradual organic approach to the elephant in the room whilst under the cover of a optometrist. This is truly a scene beyond acting of any kind.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A deep exploration of the human condition.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/30/19

Full Review

Audience Member

I always found good movies like that using boxxy software. I was crying after this movie...

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

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Joshua Oppenheimer

Director

Joshua Oppenheimer

Voice

Signe Byrge Sørensen

Producer

Werner Herzog

Executive Producer

Errol Morris

Executive Producer

André Singer

Executive Producer

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Lenika Cruz

The Atlantic

Every scene weighs on the audience. But Oppenheimer and Adi manage to locate a lightness as well that lessens the burden.

Jan 21, 2016

Full Review

Jake Wilson

Sydney Morning Herald

Oppenheimer's follow-up, The Look of Silence, is more lucid but less interesting.

Rated: 2.5/5

Dec 1, 2015

Full Review

David Stratton

The Australian

oshua Oppenheimer has followed his 2012 documentary, The Act of Killing, with another, even more powerful film, The Look of Silence.

Rated: 3.5/5

Dec 1, 2015

Full Review

Wael Khairy

The Cinephile Fix

...at the end of each interview, Rukun reveals his identity to the former killers. The camera captures the most extraordinarily reaction shot, the look of silence.

Jul 30, 2023

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Oppenheimer has developed another important piece of cinema that is as illuminating as it is shocking. I can’t tell you how many times I sat, mouth open and covered by my hand, in utter silence, overwhelmed by what I was seeing.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

Angus Batey

NME (New Musical Express)

Exceptional.

May 18, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

An optician confronts the men who killed the brother that he never knew during the 1960s Indonesian genocide.

Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Executive Producer: Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, André Singer
Distributor: Drafthouse Films
Production Co: Final Cut for Real
Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Material|Graphic Desc. of Inhumanity|Graphic Desc. of Atrocities)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Indonesian
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 17, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 4, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $109.1K

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