Don’t we all love feel good movies?

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Silent friend was an absolute hidden gem of LFF 2025. In a packed line up it’s easy to miss the less flashy looking films. But we’re so glad we took the risk with this one as we found my film of the festival. Silent friend is a remarkable film, a love letter to nature, and a transcending movie watching experience. With its unique storytelling, weaving through time, across 3 generations of people studying and absorbing themselves in botany, the study of plant. One set in the early 1900s, one in the 70s, and one in 2020, all interlinked in the same place, under the branches of a Ginkgo tree.

 

I have a slight aversion to films set during covid, feeling like there hasn’t been a film that uses it naturally, one that doesn’t make it feel like the elephant in the room. But Director, Ildikó Enyedi traverses this wonderfully, using covid as a vehicle to move the story forward. I love the differing styles the film uses, cinematographer Gergely Pálos makes it clear what decade you’re in, using fitting black and white for the early 1900s, grainy, warm textures for the 70s, and a more modern feel for the 2020s. It perfectly divides the film and allows you to wrap yourself even more into the blanket of the film.

 

You wouldn’t expect a film about a tree needing to be 2.5hrs long, but this film flies by, moments that made us cry with laughter and cry for real! The cast give intimate performances that Ildikó really lets breath and the film’s pacing flows so naturally, like tree branches in the wind!

 

I can’t get enough of this film, and I’m frustrated that it’s not being talked about enough, Silent Friend will definitely stay with me for a long time.

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5/5