The Bay of Silence

The Bay of Silence is a 2020 internationally co-produced thriller film directed by Paula van der Oest from a screenplay by Caroline Goodall, based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Lisa St Aubin de Terán. It stars Claes Bang, Olga Kurylenko, Alice Krige, Assaad Bouab and Brian Cox. Plot Rosalind and Will live an enviable life in London. She is a celebrated artist, he is a dependable engineer and willing stepfather to her twin eight-year-old daughters. When the difficult birth of their son, Amadeo, rocks Rosalind's carefully calibrated world, she abruptly disappears with her children and the young nanny, Candy. Will suspects a link to a recently arrived suitcase from France, filled with faded photographic negatives. He launches a frantic search across Europe, locating them at the cliff-top Normandy home of Rosalind's dead photographer uncle. But relief turns to horror when he discovers his son has mysteriously died. Hiding in the dilapidated house, Rosalind is too traumatized to recognize him, the twins speak in riddles and Candy has disappeared. A desperate Will sees two options: Report the tragedy and risk his wife being accused of murder or cover it up and protect his family. Unable to believe his wife is culpable, Will secretly buries Amadeo in the dead of night and flees France with his family to a Swiss mountain clinic to help Rosalind recover. When Will confides in her mother, Vivian, she confesses Rosalind's mental instability links to being raped at fourteen. Will reluctantly agrees to a car accident "cover story", orchestrated by her powerful art dealer stepfather, Milton, in order to protect Rosalind. Rosalind returns home but it is Will who cannot return to "normal". He roams London, secretly investigating the mystery of his wife's past until his obsession and grief drives the vulnerable Rosalind to take refuge with Milton. In a race against time, Will finds the missing Candy who helps him piece together what happened the night his son died and uncovers the identity of the mysterious Pierre Laurent, who holds the key to Rosalind's secrets. When an unarmed Will faces a vengeful Milton, it is Rosalind, in a dramatic twist who decides Milton's fate. Finally, they return to the Bay of Silence in Liguria, Italy, where their story began, to learn if love can conquer all.