Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Silent Retreat’

Written by Scott Edwards

​Going on a company retreat could be one of the best things to do when it comes to team building. When there are problems on your team and normal office tactics are not working, there is no better way to get things straightened out than to remove the office from the scenario and possibly add some adult beverages to the equation as well. As work seems to be secondary during these events, it is makes it easier to get all of the issues out into the light and hopefully come to a conclusion on them, so that in the long run, they will no longer be problems.

Being able to convince his higher ups that his team deserves a trip, Dale has the perfect one planned and takes his team up to an isolated lodge so they can come together with one another and nature. Zac and Meigan are the last two to arrive to the lodge and wind up getting shacked up together with no issue and they find out what everyone else is up to as well. As Tedi and Rita have their own rooms, Lira has brought her new boyfriend to the lodge for the trip and makes sure that everybody knows that she is having the time of her life in the room. With everyone safe and under one roof, Dale goes over the rules of the lodge, but most importantly, no one should go out in the woods at night because there is a terrible bear problem in the woods, and he cannot afford to have anyone get eaten. 

One night passes and while the moaning and groaning from Lira’s room has kept everyone up all night, Rita is still bright and chipper and heads out for a nature walk. But Rita does not make it back for the first of a few sanctioned meetings that Dale is holding. Dale doesn't worry about it too much though, since he knows that she knows the area better than anyone and is probably over at the caretaker’s cabin. Not returning for dinner as well, Meigan starts to worry about her co-worker and wants to try to find her, but with it being so dark outside, she would be tempting fate with the bears if she did. Agreeing to wait until morning, Meigan heads up to bed after everyone else, but spots the line for the attic hanging down and decides to go and take a look. Finding an old box that has an old tape recorder, along with some old tapes, she gives it a listen and hears a young boy yelling hateful things towards his doctor. Heading to bed with a strange story playing out in her head, she wants to know more about who or what happened in this lodge before they arrived.

Morning rolls around and everyone is dealing with a little bit of a hangover, but it is time for them to start looking for Rita. Giving everyone an assignment, Meigan is told to stay in the lodge in case her co-worker finds her way back. With the boring assignment in hand, Meigan heads back up to the attic with a fresh set of batteries and plugs back into the old tapes and finds out that the lodge was an old mental institution and that the caretaker was a sexual predator. Thinking that Rita could have been his next victim, Meigan tries to let everyone know what she has found, but it may be too little too late when the bodies start to pile up in the lodge and caretaker is trying to kill Zac in the hallway. Being able to save Zac and escape with her life, Meigan has no idea what has been unleashed at the lodge nor a clue as to who exactly she is riding home with.

The story really picked up when the tapes from the mental institution started to play. When young Ned is talking to his doctor and not admitting to anything that he has done, the one everyone is afraid of, takes over and the doctor is able to tell he is not the same boy. Zac seems to be losing his mind while at the lodge as well, as he is seeing the ghost of the little boy who stayed at the institution back when it was open. With the banter being more like what you would have around the workplace, I really liked how the characters all played off of each other, especially Dale being the boss and trying to keep everyone in line… and failing. Even when it seems like someone has it all together, they may have more secrets hanging behind them than you will ever know, all I know is that lying is bad in a child’s eyes, and I think that should carry on to adulthood as well. Stay Scared.

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