The Quiet is a 2005 American psychological thriller film directed by Jamie Babbit, written by Abdi Nazemian and Micah Schraft, and starring Elisha Cuthbert, Camilla Belle, Martin Donovan, and Edie Falco.

She soon becomes a sounding board for the family members, who confess their darkest secrets to her, including the father's ongoing sexual abuse of his daughter.

At school, Dot is a social outcast, though Connor, a basketball player, takes an interest in her, much to the chagrin of Nina's abrasive friend, Michelle, who is pursuing him.

One afternoon, Nina returns home early from cheerleading practice and overhears Dot playing Beethoven on the family's piano.

At lunch the next day, acting under the guise that Dot cannot hear, Nina assays her by confessing her hatred of her father, and details her plan to murder him.

The following night, after a basketball game, Connor confides numerous personal secrets to Dot, including his attention deficit disorder and his chronic masturbation.

The confrontation becomes violent, and eventually descends into a rape before Dot comes to Nina's defense, strangling Paul to death with a piano wire.

Dot explains that, after her mother died during her childhood, she stopped speaking and began communicating only with sign language, as it made her feel closer to her father.

[13] Cuthbert had initially wanted to play the role of the silent Dot, but director Jamie Babbit instead cast Belle in that part[14] after Thora Birch dropped out of the project.

"[13] Cuthbert said that acting her part was complicated by Belle "not doing a whole lot in the movie, as far as dialogue goes – it was difficult, because we had to find the right timing and the beats.

[14] Variety said that "[director of photography] M. David Mullen's high-definition, widescreen camerawork supplies a lucid, moody look, matched by Jeff Rona's brooding score.

"[23] MSNBC's Christy Lemire noted that "Every frame of The Quiet, with its overly styled blue-gray tint and hazy interiors, calls to mind 9½ Weeks, Fatal Attraction or Unfaithful.

"[24] IndieWire agreed, noting that the "use of smoke to mask the use of high-def video ... results in laughably inexplicable smoky interiors lit like a high school production of Les Miserables.

"[25] SF Station's Mel Valentin argued that Babbit effectively exaggerated the limitations of the budget and using HD video: "the video artifacts, lighting, night-time shooting, and sparse sets end up creating an oneiric, fairy-tale quality that helps to balances out the undercurrent of violence that permeates the characters’ actions.

The website's critics' consensus reads, "This psychological thriller's talented cast is undercut by leaden pacing and a problematic plot.

"[30] In contrast, Andrea Chase of Killer Movie Reviews called the film "a disturbing drama that is as riveting to watch as it is challenging to contemplate.

"[15] Patrick Luce of Monsters & Critics called it "a slow-burn thriller that keeps the audience hooked ... thanks to a disturbing plot and solid performances from its cast.

"[31] Shawn Levy of The Oregonian also gave a favorable review, awarding it a B-rating and writing that "Babbit, with unnervingly beautiful compositions and sharp editing, lures you so skillfully into the film's awful revelations and sickening atmosphere, you feel rather like Dot: defenseless, alone, vulnerable.

"[18] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly deemed the film "dank and rhythmless,"[33] while Andrew O'Hehir of Salon wrote that it is "a terrible example of what can happen when the wrong sets of talented people get together.

It isn't convincing as talky psychological realism or as high-school satire or as ghoulish forbidden melodrama, although Belle and Cuthbert have their best and creepiest moments in that mode.

"[31] IndieWire also felt that the characters of Dot and Nina were underwritten,[25] and Empire Movies similarly decried the "blatant under-use of two talented young actresses.

"[38] Gazelle Emami of The Daily Californian similarly conceded that, "Despite the plot's failings, Cuthbert does a convincing job in her role, exuding an outer shell so tough that when her inner, softer layers emerge, it's a natural change of character.

"[24] Mel Valentin of SF Station agreed that "performance wise, The Quiet belongs to Camilla Belle and Elisha Cuthbert," noting that "Belle ... has to act through body language and facial expressions [and] mostly carries it off, but even a talented actress can only do so much with such a passive role ... Cuthbert acquits herself well in the more active, substantive role (again, for the most part), but her performance is undermined by the questionable decision to put her character in skimpy clothing.

"[26] However, Ruthe Stein of the San Francisco Chronicle dissented, arguing that "Cuthbert flounces around a lot but doesn't have the range to express Nina's feelings.