Silent Zone (2025) Review
A mysterious outbreak at an international airport marks the explosive beginning of Silent Zone, a post-apocalyptic action-horror film that throws viewers headfirst into a world spiraling toward collapse. Containment efforts fail almost immediately, and within days, the streets are overrun with the infected—aggressive, ravenous, and disturbingly relentless. Civilization falls swiftly, and survival becomes the only priority.
In the heart of this chaos is five-year-old Abigail (Katalin Krenn), who watches in horror as her mother (Caroline Boulton, Infinity Pool, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) and younger brother Lucas (Anders Olof Grundberg, Stockholm Bloodbath, Poor Things) are brutally attacked. Abigail’s fate seems sealed until she’s rescued by Cassius (Matt Devere, SAS: Red Notice, The Legend of the Gold Train), a battle-worn former soldier. In a grim twist, he is forced to shoot Abigail’s reanimated mother in front of her—an early signal that Silent Zone isn’t pulling any emotional punches.A decade later, the world is still a wasteland. The infected, now known as “ferals,” continue to roam, posing a constant threat. Abigail (now portrayed by Luca Papp, FBI: International, Dune: Prophecy) and Cassius remain on the move, locked in a gruelling journey toward “The Colony,” a rumoured safe haven aboard a flotilla of cargo ships. Along the way, they encounter Megan (Nikolett Barabas, Slingshot, A Good Day to Die Hard), a pregnant woman, and her husband David (Declan Hannigan, All the Light We Cannot See, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris), which forces the duo to confront the emotional and moral toll of their survival-driven existence.
Director Peter Deak (12 Toys of Christmas, Capturing Kennedy) delivers well-crafted action sequences with a gritty realism that elevates the tension. From visceral hand-to-hand fights to large-scale set pieces—including a nail-biting race to get an aircraft airborne before it’s swarmed by ferals—the film showcases moments of genuine intensity. Unfortunately, those scenes are too few and far between in a two-hour runtime that often struggles to maintain momentum.
The film, based on the novel Welcome to the Silent Zone by Viktor Csák, who co-wrote the screenplay with frequent collaborator Krisztián Illés (People of the Darkness, The Forgotten Village 3D), attempts to inject emotional depth into its narrative. While the ambition is admirable, the execution falls short. The story leans heavily on familiar post-apocalyptic tropes—a survivor secretly infected but not turned, a mad scientist (Alexis Latham, The Billion Dollar Code, The Man with the Iron Heart) bent on controlling the zombies—and the result is a film that too often feels like it’s shambling from one cliché to the next.
What saves Silent Zone from complete predictability are its setting and performances. Shot on location in Hungary, the film’s landscapes feel eerily authentic—rugged, bleak, and convincingly post-apocalyptic even without heavy CGI. The cast, particularly in the film’s emotionally charged moments, delivers grounded and often compelling performances that lend some much-needed weight to the narrative.
Sadly, these strengths are often undercut by sluggish pacing and underdeveloped characters. The film only truly finds its stride in its final act, when a climactic feral attack on The Colony finally delivers the visceral horror and bloodshed promised from the beginning. It’s a thrilling payoff—but it arrives far too late.
Had the earlier portions of the film maintained the same level of intensity and urgency, Silent Zone might have carved out a unique identity within the crowded zombie genre. Instead, it ends up as a mixed bag—an ambitious but uneven film that will likely appeal most to fans of The Walking Dead or viewers who appreciate a grimmer, more grounded take on the undead apocalypse.
Verdict:
Silent Zone offers moments of thrilling action and atmospheric tension, but is bogged down by uneven pacing and over-familiar story beats. It’s a respectable entry in the genre, though not a standout.
