Mute Witness – Review

A woman is unknowingly stalked in her apartment by three escaped mental patients. They just murdered their way out of the Bellevue Hospital ward. After one does the “dirty work” and slashes her, she stumbles around to her slow demise. But… all is not what it seems at first. The cameraman and crew watch their script play out, while the director hushes the few people talking quietly on set.

Sisters Billy (Zudina) and Karen Hughes (Ripley) work on the film, as the youngster Billy is a special effects and makeup artist. She also happens to be mute, while her sister Karen is dating the director, Andy Clarke (Richards). The film is being show in Moscow with an international cast and crew. They need to reshoot their current scene from the top, but it will take some time to re-do the set.

As the evening comes to a close, Billy gets her fake blood readied for use and touches up the star Natasha. As the shoot wraps for the day, Billy forgets a dummy mask that she needs to prep for the following shots, and heads back into the studio building. Unfortunately, she gets stuck inside and the premises are locked up.

This leads to a strange predicament as the night takes an unexpected turn. As Billy winds up seeing a horrid event play out in front of her eyes, she winds up the target of some seriously bad people. This begins a tense game of survival for the girl who cannot speak.

Mute Witness has a decent and disturbing setup and features some anxiety inducing scenes. It has a short runtime so it zips right along. While the story is pretty simple, it is well directed and features a non-wimpy main character who tries to use her brain and wits to survive. Decent enough acting ties it all together and it’s a good time for a dark and uneasy story. It does get a bit over the top at times, and the resolution is not as strong as the opening, but there is plenty for viewers that like their thrillers lean and mean.