The Silent Treatment

Sometimes the confrontations we fear most are the only path to reconciliation. Tess (Kimke Desart), an eccentric eighteen-year-old with Stockholm syndrome, begins stalking Szabolcs (Zoltan Miklos “Uldi” Hajdu), a withdrawn man in his forties, in Budapest. His partner Andrea tries to approach Tess gently, helping her face the past she’s been avoiding. Gradually, the three become ever more entangled in one another’s lives, and it becomes clear how their histories will permanently shape their relationships. Belgian writer-director Caroline Strubbe crafts an intimate, atmospheric psychological drama about human connection, guilt, forgiveness, and the power of imagination in processing trauma. The Silent Treatment concludes Strubbe’s acclaimed Lost Persons trilogy (Lost Persons Area, 2009; I’m the Same I’m an Other, 2013), though it also stands entirely on its own.