When Kasper (Gustav Dyekjær Giese) learns his brother-in-law wants him to speak with a Moroccan friend, he knows what that conversation will entail. It probably wasn’t long ago that he’d jump at the chance, but he’s since found other means with which to make his wife and daughter proud. As long as there’s a shot at the Danish boxing title, his focus must remain on it. Train. Fight. Win. He knows himself too well to risk distractions because the moment he hears what Slimani (Reda Kateb) has planned, Kasper will want nothing more than to find the best way to get it done. And if his mind starts drifting towards a lucrative payday, he’ll stand zero chance in the ring.
Based on the true story of Denmark’s largest-ever heist, The Quiet Ones does well to ensure we know the motivations of each major player from the start. Kasper is the family man interested in legacy––either via the sport he loves or the infamy of criminality. Slimani is a violent, control-driven man who has no qualms taking it by any means necessary. Maria (Amanda Collin) is a much smaller piece than those two, but her devotee of the law and the chase it affords her to pursue bad guys in the name of justice is no less important. Kasper wants to win; Slimani wants to kill; Maria wants to save the day.
Written by Anders Frithiof August and directed by Frederik Louis Hviid, the film’s energy can be summed up by a two-line exchange between Kasper and Slimani. The former looks the latter in the eye and says, “We’re going to get caught.” The reply, with a smile, is “I know.” This isn’t about desperation; these two men don’t need this money to survive. They simply see an opportunity that holds the potential for a huge reward against minimal pushback and want to see it through. They want to make the robbery as big and loud as possible so the entire world knows what they did. Getting away with it would merely be a cherry on top. Getting caught puts their names in the papers.
August’s script deserves much credit––a lot needs to be made known during preparations for what occurs to make sense. That none of it feels forced is no small feat. It helps that Hviid shoots the heist with urgency, getting into the action with close-ups that put these thieves’ emotions on-screen. We have little time to search for holes. Slimani is playing lookout with a Kalashnikov itching to go off; Kasper is conducting his plan without deviation, despite some missteps; Hasse (Christopher Wagelin) is readying to improvise regardless of jeopardizing everything in the process; and Maria is ignoring orders to wait for the police’s arrival because acting now might prevent the robbers from fleeing the scene.
There are a ton of moving parts to amp up the drama and guarantee trouble becomes unavoidable. Slimani is ready to shoot everyone for no reason. You have one getaway driver who can’t get out of his own way and another who’s out of retirement from boredom. Kasper wants to succeed without bloodshed, but doing so might be out of his hands. And as soon as we hear there’s a 16-minute clock on the whole ordeal, we know it will hit zero before they are done. Greed always finds a way to sabotage intelligence: some will want to leave with what they have while others will want to stay and clean the place out.
Some backstory feels out-of-place relative to the crime, but it teaches us how far these characters will go. Slimani must prove no one is above his temper. Maria must prove she’ll never patiently wait on the sidelines. When you have a plot as concrete as “plan the heist and do the heist,” you’re able to devote time to character depth and ensure we understand why they do what they do. Because the last thing you want is the audience rolling their eyes at a decision that’s too convenient to be authentic. You prevent that by making it authentic to the person responsible for it––they can still be a pawn to the plot, but they can’t be passive.
No one is. Even when Kasper is unwilling to participate beyond the planning stage, he’s proactive about standing firm so as not to let Slimani think he’s afraid. And when each character is pushing forward at full-speed, the risk of a lull in the action becomes impossible. They cannot afford to slow down––they’re operating on more clocks than just the one that starts when they enter that warehouse. Neither can they afford to cut a corner and make it all for nothing. Because while it is about the money for everyone else, Kasper and Slimani want the satisfaction of winning. The fact this film got made shows the men those characters are based on succeeded in that regard.
The Quiet Ones premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
The post TIFF Review: The Quiet Ones Orchestrates a Thrilling Heist first appeared on The Film Stage.
