Silence

Two young Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to feudal Japan in search of their mentor, rumored to have renounced his faith under torture and pressure from local authorities. Father Rodrigues and his companion Garupe sail into a culture where Christianity is illegal and hidden believers risk brutal punishment. Their mission is twofold: verify the truth about their mentor and find a way to spread Catholic teaching without exposing their flock to danger. Along the way they witness how the Christian community fends for survival amid local suspicion, bamboo villages, and the constant pull between faith and self-preservation. The test of their beliefs comes as they confront a world where belief can be a quiet act of resistance against a pervasive cultural crackdown.

Directed by Martin Scorsese and adapted from Shūsaku Endō's novel by Jay Cocks, Silence arrived in 2016 as Scorsese's meditation on faith. It stars Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, and Liam Neeson in an austere epic that marked an artistic risk.

Worldwide box office totaled about 23.8 million against a 46 million budget, reflecting a measured reception despite its star power and year-round release. It nevertheless found audiences in select markets and earned praise for its restraint and ambition by critics.

Silence sparked discussion about the costs of conviction and the collisions between Western Christianity and East Asian tradition. Its restrained performances and rigorous historical detail prompted debates about religious tolerance, human fallibility, and the ways faith is practiced under oppression. It sparked conversations about sacrifice in cinema and belief today.

Critics were divided on pace and tone, but praised Garfield's intense portrayal and Driver's restrained support, with many commending Scorsese's somber framing and the film's patient storytelling. Viewers encounter fidelity tested by doubt, the clash of cultures, and the difficult choice between spiritual duty and survival on a larger screen.