Hush (1998)

Director:

Jonathan Darby

Writers (WGA):

Jonathan Darby (story)
Jonathan Darby (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Don't Breathe A Word

Plot:

Helen is the young girlfriend of good-looking Jackson Baring. When Helen gets pregnant and marries Jackson...

Plot Keywords:

Bathtub | Dysfunctional Family | Farm | Doctor | Burglar

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jessica Lange	...	Martha Baring
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Helen Baring
Johnathon Schaech	...	Jackson Baring
Nina Foch	...	Alice Baring
Debi Mazar	...	Lisa
Kaiulani Lee	...	Sister O'Shaughnessy
David Thornton	...	Gavin
Hal Holbrook	...	Dr. Franklin Hill
Richard Lineback	...	Hal Bentall
Richard Kohn	...	Clayton Richards
Faith Potts	...	Georgina Richards
Tom Story	...	Priest
Jolene Carroll	...	Church Warden
Jacob Press	...	Usher
Joe Inscoe	...	Doctor

Also Known As:

Bloodline (USA) (working title)
Kilronan (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence, sensuality and brief strong language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Manitoba) | Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34338) | South Korea:18 | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:16 | Mexico:B | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: When Helen goes to the barn and finds the locket in the drawer, Martha catches her. When Helen hears Martha, she closes her hand around the locket above the open drawer. In the next shot, every drawer in the dresser is closed.

Quotes:

Martha Baring: What lies did you tell her? Answer me!
[Alice just looks at her]
Martha Baring: Answer me!
Alice: I am, you just can't see my finger.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006)

Soundtrack:

As I Walked Out One Evening

Creepy but good quality

Jackson Baring takes his girlfriend Helen to his family's horse farm Kilronin. Jackson's mother Martha has been running the place but would like her son to take over. Jackson and Helen are living together in New York City and are reluctant to leave that life. But Helen somehow gets pregnant, even though she was using birth control, and the two get married and eventually do take over the farm.

Jackson blames himself for his father's death when he was 7. Martha knows the truth but won't tell him, and she seems to have an unnatural relationship with her son. It's almost as if she sees his father and wants to be with him in that way. And she sees the baby as a means of continuing the legacy, but not a child to be loved, at least not in the way most people would. Her treatment of Helen is strange, as if Helen is only useful until the baby is born, and then she will be in the way.

The ending is exciting and sort of creepy at the same time.

Jessica Lange does a fine job here as Jackson's overly controlling and demented mother. However, Nina Foch gives the standout performance as Jackson's grandmother, who is kept in a fancy nursing home because only she knows the truth about how her son died.

I think all the leading actors did a good job here. I usually can't stand Debi Mazar, who was a co-worker to Helen and possibly her boss, but I would like to have seen more of her here. But if Helen had to move out of New York, I guess keeping her job was out of the question.

I suppose my favorite scene was the one where Helen gets out of bed naked and meets her mother-in-law for the first time. That one was edited for TV in such a way it seemed kind of jerky and I didn't get to see much, but a lot depends on how one sees this movie.

It's not typical of what I like in a movie, but still entertaining.