Movie Review ~ The Quiet Ones  (2024)

Heist films have long been cinematic fertile ground for exploring the clash between meticulous planning and human fragility.  Frederik Louis Hviid’s The Quiet Ones (De lydløse) takes a more introspective Nordic approach, unfolding with quiet intensity rather than explosive spectacle.   It’s less about action-packed robberies and more about the slow, creeping pressure of desperation.   Those willing to lean into its deliberate pace will be rewarded with a thriller that sticks with you like a bad penny.

Inspired by the infamous 2008 Danish heist—in which a group of men stole over $10 million before being swiftly caught— and premiering at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, The Quiet Ones roots its tension in the socioeconomic turmoil of the late 2000s.   The looming financial crisis isn’t just background noise either; it quietly dictates the choices of its characters, making their descent into crime feel less like a plot device and more like a fated event.   This story is about more than a robbery—it’s about the cost of economic collapse on ordinary lives.

At the center of it all is Kasper, played with a controlled force by Gustav Dyekjær Giese.   A boxer whose sharp mind is as much a weapon as his fists, he’s reluctantly drawn into a heist that seems like his only way out.   Giese strikes a delicate balance between careful calculation and buried frustration, making Kasper a character whose every decision feels weighted with consequence.   His partnership with Slimani, the heist’s mastermind (played with an icy precision by Reda Kateb), adds another layer of intrigue.   Kateb’s unshakable composure clashes with Kasper’s simmering unease, creating a dynamic where much is left unsaid (these are tough-as-nails, Scandinavian men, after all)—but always felt.

Amanda Collin’s Maria, a security guard eventually caught in the crew’s web, brings an intriguing layer of moral ambiguity.   Though you may wonder at first how she figures into the overall scheme, it’s the payoff of the final act where her role comes into perfect focus.    Her performance is a standout (almost as good as she was in 2023’s The Promised Land), capturing the determination and turmoil of someone torn between the easy out of complicity and her ultimate survival.   While the central trio is given space to breathe and add texture to their roles, some colorful supporting characters feel underdeveloped—fascinating figures that never quite step out of the background like we want them to.

Adam Wallensten’s cinematography reinforces the film’s measured approach.   The camera shifts between the calculated stillness of planning early on and the chaotic immediacy of execution in the blistering finale, mirroring the characters’ shifting sense of control.   Sometimes, the viewer is a detached observer; at other moments, we’re placed uncomfortably close to the action, drawn into the crew’s paranoia.   The sound design plays its part too, using silence as much as sound.   Long stretches of quiet are punctuated by sudden bursts of noise, mimicking the ever-tightening noose around the tattooed necks of the characters.

Restraint is the film’s defining trait throughout.   Making his solo directorial debut, Hviid crafts a slow-burn thriller that prioritizes tension over spectacle.   The heist itself, though meticulously planned, is almost secondary to the emotional toll it takes on those involved.   The script, co-written by Hviid with Anders Frithiof August, doesn’t romanticize crime or turn it into a puzzle box of twists as most American films would be so tempted to do.   Instead, it presents theft as a grim but reasonable act—one born from limited choices rather than the reckless ambition of petty thieves.   It’s this refusal to glamorize crime that makes The Quiet Ones feel more like a psychological drama than a conventional heist film.

While one of the film’s greatest strengths, the laudable restraint shown in not including frenetic action every ten minutes won’t be for everyone.  Those expecting high-speed chases with money flying out of duffel bags or adrenaline-fueled hand-to-hand combat sequences may find its pacing too slow.   However, if you like your films hard-boiled with its characters well done, The Quiet Ones is oh so compelling.  It’s about people first, crime second.

In a genre that often favors spectacle over substance, The Quiet Ones takes the opposite route.   By centering on its characters rather than the mechanics of the heist, it delivers a story that feels deeply personal and eerily universal.   Hviid proves himself a filmmaker willing to take risks (expect Hollywood to nab him soon)—not with elaborate set pieces, but with quiet, murky tension.   The result is a film that doesn’t dazzle with explosions but unsettles with its lasting sense of distress.