A Nightmare Too Real to Wake From

Read Time:5 Minute, 59 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Haunters of the Silence
–

Genre: Psychological Horror, Folk Horror, Experimental
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 13m
Director(s): Tatu Heikkinen, Veleda Thorsson-Heikkinen
Writer(s): Tatu Heikkinen, Veleda Thorsson-Heikkinen
Cast: Tatu Heikkinen, John Haughm, Veleda Thorsson-Heikkinen
Where to Watch: shown at the 2025 Serbest International Film Festival

RAVING REVIEW: There’s a rule that most horror films embrace without question: fear is loud. Doors slam, footsteps echo, voices distort, and the score claws its way into the viewer like a physical force. HAUNTERS OF THE SILENCE rejects that approach. Its opening passages establish a different kind of dread — one built on stillness, interrupted breaths, and the quiet weight of unresolved memory. Rather than giving in to fear, it studies it, letting isolation become as threatening as any creature or loud jump scare. I want to start with clarity: this film wasn’t for me, but some will absolutely love it.

The core of the story is direct: a man grieving the loss of his wife experiences a series of nightmares while locked in a cycle of sleep paralysis. Reality bleeds into something darker until he can’t tell which world has more power over him. The film presents sleep as a haunted house—a place where the lights never come on and memory refuses to let go. The filmmakers describe sleep itself as a structure, something built scene by scene in a survivor’s mind. You feel that in the pacing, the framing, and the repetition of certain images.

The film was built almost entirely by two people: directors and writers Tatu Heikkinen and Veleda Thorsson-Heikkinen, who also perform most of the creative roles behind the camera. The press kit makes it clear just how personal and handcrafted this is, describing the project as a “filmmaking process rooted in emotional stillness, rejecting fast-paced editing in favor of contemplative storytelling.” The budget is tiny, but the commitment is obvious. It feels like a film made out of necessity — an attempt to articulate something rather than chase a marketplace trend.

The visuals are built on shadows, tunnels, pale spaces, and long, static shots in which the frame itself becomes a prison. The lighting is composed, with sequences of monochrome imagery that make the character seem to dissolve into the room. That choice isn’t accidental — the film isn’t trying to ground its nightmare logic in a literal depiction of sleep paralysis. Instead, it leans into dream architecture. Objects fade into blackness. Faces appear at the edge of the frame before the viewer is sure they’re there. Time feels elastic. A character may be standing still, but the fear is happening beneath the image rather than on its surface.

Folk horror is usually tied to the outside world: forests, rituals, secluded villages. HAUNTERS OF THE SILENCE pulls that inward. It builds a folklore of the mind, treating trauma and dream-logic like stories passed down within a family. The “Hat Man” figure plays into modern sleep-paralysis myths, but here he’s less a viral internet phenomenon and more a personal archetype — someone standing in for the parts of grief that won’t let go. John Haughm plays with a quiet menace, appearing like a memory that never forgets. The atmosphere is the creative priority, emphasizing tone and rhythm over exposition.

Tatu Heikkinen’s acting is subdued, almost abstracted. It’s the kind of role where the emotional work happens between words rather than through them. Veleda Thorsson-Heikkinen, seen in flashlike glimpses, feels more like a memory haunting the frame than a traditional character. Their pairing makes sense — the dynamic is less about dialogue and more about presence. Voices drift in like echoes, especially in sequences where narration sounds like it’s coming from somewhere outside the dream. There is intentional minimalism throughout, which can be riveting for viewers tuned into experimental work but may feel distant for those expecting conventional character arcs.

The film’s dedication to abstraction sometimes narrows its reach. The story is deeply personal, but the filmmaking is so internal that it can leave the viewer without the connective tissue that drives involvement. Some scenes border on hypnotic, while others feel like being locked inside someone else’s dream without the context that makes nightmares specific. The repetition can be immersive; it can also create emotional distance for some audiences, which will be part of the appeal — a space to project personal anxieties. For others, it may feel impenetrable.

HAUNTERS OF THE SILENCE is trying to express something painful about grief — the way the mind builds alternate realities to preserve the person we lost, the way sleep paralysis turns imagination into punishment, the way silence becomes the only space left to confront unresolved love. When the film settles in, it’s not stalling — it’s building atmosphere until the audience has no choice but to sit with the same feeling the character can’t escape.

You can clearly see the filmmakers’ identities: a preference for slow imagery, stark composition, arthouse pacing, and a prioritization of mood. The limitations are known — low budget, a narrow canvas, a story told through metaphor — but the intent is meaningful. Anyone interested in experimental horror that blurs the line between dream and memory will recognize there’s something here worth exploring.

HAUNTERS OF THE SILENCE feels like a film made after a loss, out of a need to translate something that can’t be spoken aloud. That kind of work is rare, even in indie horror. It may not reach everyone equally, but it will get the people who understand what it’s trying to say — that sometimes the scariest part of the night isn’t the nightmare itself, but waking up and realizing you didn’t leave it behind.

@hauntersofthesilence

Please visit https://linktr.ee/overlyhonestr for more reviews.

You can follow me on Letterboxd, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. My social media accounts can also be found on most platforms by searching for 'Overly Honest Reviews'.

I’m always happy to hear from my readers; please don't hesitate to say hello or send me any questions about movies.

[photo courtesy of SAVO-KARELIAN PRODUCTIONS, FRAGMENTS & THE DECLINE]

DISCLAIMER:
At Overly Honest Movie Reviews, we value honesty and transparency. Occasionally, we receive complimentary items for review, including DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Vinyl Records, Books, and more. We assure you that these arrangements do not influence our reviews, as we are committed to providing unbiased and sincere evaluations. We aim to help you make informed entertainment choices regardless of our relationship with distributors or producers.

Amazon Affiliate Links:
Additionally, this site contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may receive a commission. This affiliate arrangement does not affect our commitment to honest reviews and helps support our site. We appreciate your trust and support as you navigate these links.