The Great Silence

A young woman’s plan to live out the rest of her life as a nun is threatened when the past knocks on the convent door in the form of her estranged brother, forcing her to face both him and herself.

29-year-old Alma is living in a Danish convent and preparing to take her perpetual vows, but not long before the ceremony, an unexpected guest arrives: Her brother Erik, whom she has not spoken to in years. With him comes the memory of their shared family tragedy, putting the new life she built for herself at risk. Alma, now in an environment and role that expects her to turn the other cheek, finds herself feeling trapped, and the siblings must face the past they wanted to leave behind.

The Great Silence is a powerful tale of two siblings who fled down different paths in the face of a traumatic event, as well as a film that makes good use of its theological themes. Norwegian actress Kristine Kujath Thorp, known as the star of Ninjababy (2021) and Sick of Myself (2022), plays Alma.

«Da filmen slutter, har man det nok lidt som en katolsk nonne, der bliver kaldt ind i døden: Der er stadig meget, meget mere skønhed og lys i vente. Og det er der også fra Katrine Brocks. Hun er en gudsbenådet instruktør.»
- Filmmagasinet Ekko -

Jenny Lund

Director

Katrine Brocks (b. 1989) is a Danish director and writer. She has previously directed shorts such as Below the Waves, Above the Clouds (2019) and the Robert-winning In the Blink of an Eye (2020). For her feature debut The Great Silence, she was awarded the Roger Ebert Award for new directors at the Chicago International Film Festival and the Prize for Best Feature Debut at Lübeck Nordic Film Days.

This film is part of