A Silent Night

A young woman fights to survive one night of brutal ordeal during an illicit tryst, when she slowly discovers deep dark secrets and concealed violent crimes that may be linked to political and extra judicial killings involving her lover. She must now make a choice between exposing the truth or keeping silent to stay alive.

  • Shugo Praico
    Director
  • Shugo Praico
    Writer
  • Lino Cayetano
    Producer
  • Arleen Cuevas
    Producer
  • Philip King
    Producer
  • Ian Veneracion
    Key Cast
    "Chief"
  • Heaven Peralejo
    Key Cast
    "Me Ann"
  • Mon Confiado
    Key Cast
    "Stranger"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Thriller, Suspense, Psychological, Crime
  • Runtime:
    2 hours 2 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 25, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    300,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Philippines
  • Language:
    English, Tagalog
  • Shooting Format:
    digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Metro Manila Film Festival, Philippines
    Manila
    Philippines
    December 25, 2022
    International Premiere
Distribution Information
  • Rein Entertainment
    Sales Agent
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Shugo Praico

SHUGO PRAICO started out as a scriptwriter at age 21 for the Philippines largest TV Network, ABS-CBN. His screenplays “Awaken (2005),” “Night Infinite (2010),” “Bonifacio: Unang Pangulo (2014),” earned him citations in prestigious local festivals and award giving bodies. “Noy (2010)” became the Philippines’ representative to the Oscars that year for Best Foreign Language film. “Blackout (2008),” “Gemini (2014),” “Expressway (2016),” are movies he wrote that competed in various prestigious international film festivals.
After 20 years as a writer, he joined Rein Entertainment where he forayed into directing and producing.This will be his second feature film.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Nanahimik ang Gabi (A Silent Night) was conceived out of paranoia amidst the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic. It felt like I was living inside a classic Hitchcock film. I was gripped by a universal fear of the unknown and the uncertain, slowly driving me towards madness, I needed to contain.

While in lockdown, I saw the dreaded virus as a mindless intruder invading my own home without my knowledge, creating unimaginable chaos towards me and my family, as it takes us hostage, stripping away all my false sense of security. And the more I struggled to understand and rationalize it all, and the more I tried to search for a way to vanquish this monster, the more I realize I am at its mercy.

Helpless, and in the face of surrender, I question how much I am willing to sacrifice for the sake of my own survival. If driven towards desperation, will I forsake morality and humanity to save myself?

And then a brutal awakening — I realized, I would.

Just like the characters in this film, I too, have had my hands stained, turned a blind eye, kept silent, and convinced myself that an action in the past is innocent, even if my gut knows its malicious intent. All in the name of… survival.

Now, the monster I fear is not the unknown, the uncertain, but the vicious reality I refused to see. It is now looking at me straight in the eye, extracting vile secrets out of my bowels, and forcing me to acknowledge that apathy, and passivity is condonement of a sin.

This whole personal, human journey is what I tried to capture in the making of the film, but neatly wrapping it all in a genre people will be familiar with.

It is my hope that audiences will be able to discern its message through the careful and meticulous character building, scripting, and all other aspects including cinematography, production design, music, sound, and editing — all of which were created to simulate a world of confinement, isolation, paranoia, fear, and a vicious cycle of violence.

Lastly, the film is also partly meant to be a cautionary tale, especially for the young, who unknowingly fall victim for a fallacious world that shapes us for its use.