For starters, Flanagan introduces this character trait wordlessly by toying with the soundtrack early on in the film – first providing clear auditory accompaniment to Maddie’s meal preparation, and then taking us into Maddie’s head by rendering everything silent. Maddie’s deafness plays into various plot elements of the film in intriguing ways, and one has to admire Flanagan’s directorial deftness in this regard. This intense dramatic irony continues for a few minutes until the killer reveals himself to Maddie, and a game of psychological and physical torture commences between the two. Meanwhile, Maddie is focused on the dishes and dinner clean up, so though she is only six feet or so away from the murder, she does not witness it. Sarah manages to run back to Maddie’s back door, but is caught and savagely stabbed to death by the man. On her way home, Sarah is attacked by a masked man. Maddie describes hearing a voice in her head when she writes, which fascinates Sarah, but the author is struggling with writing her new novel.Īfter a meal, Sarah invites Maddie over to her house for a movie, but she isn’t interested. She reads lips and signs expertly, though, and is helping Sarah learn to sign as well. Due to a bout with bacterial meningitis when she was 13, Maddie lost her ability to hear, and subsequently her ability to speak. She lives alone out in the woods, but has a neighbor named Sarah who lives within walking distance with her boyfriend John. She is a semi-reclusive author who is working on her second novel. That quarry is our protagonist, Maddie (Kate Siegel, who also earned a writing credit for the film). By maneuvering around these limitations and using them to his advantage, Flanagan imbues novelty into this oft-tired subgenre and keeps our attention frozen on the screen as a horrible scenario unfolds: a psychopathic killer with no need for ulterior motivations discovers that his next quarry is deaf. Slasher flicks structured around a home invasion are nothing new, but in Hush, Mike Flanagan has managed to craft something quite original through a collection of limitations on the characters and story.