Silent House
Sarah as she and her dad go to their lakeside retreat to pack things up, as it's being sold. Her uncle also helps out getting the place ready. When her uncle leaves to get an electrician to check the wiring, Sara hears noises sees what she believes are people inside the house. Soon, she and her dad are attacked by someone - or something, and they end up in a fight for their lives. But there's something more sinister going on.
Despite its tight budget of $2.0M, Silent House became a massive hit, earning $13.1M worldwide—a remarkable 555% return. The film's innovative storytelling connected with viewers, confirming that strong storytelling can transcend budget limitations.
1 win & 3 nominations
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Silent House (2011) demonstrates strategically placed dramatic framework, characteristic of Chris Kentis's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 26 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.5, the film showcases strong structural fundamentals.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Sarah arrives at the family's lakeside house with her father John and uncle Peter to prepare it for sale. She appears as a normal young woman helping with renovations in daylight.. Of particular interest, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 10 minutes when Sarah hears loud noises from upstairs. Her father goes to investigate and doesn't return, leaving her alone in growing fear as something unknown has entered their space.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 22 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This illustrates the protagonist's commitment to Sarah commits to searching the house after seeing a mysterious figure. She crosses into active survival mode, choosing to confront the threat rather than flee or hide passively., moving from reaction to action.
At 43 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Structural examination shows that this crucial beat Sarah discovers Polaroid photographs of herself as a child in disturbing situations. False defeat: the threat isn't external intruders but something connected to her own past. The stakes shift from physical survival to psychological truth., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 65 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Sarah confronts the truth that her father sexually abused her as a child. Her constructed reality dies, the innocent version of herself and her family is lost forever. Whiff of death: psychological annihilation., shows the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 69 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Sarah synthesizes the truth: she killed her father in self-defense and created the entire scenario as a dissociative break. She sees clearly that she must face what she's done and who she is., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Silent House's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping Silent House against these established plot points, we can identify how Chris Kentis utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Silent House within the horror genre.
Chris Kentis's Structural Approach
Among the 2 Chris Kentis films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.3, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Silent House represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Chris Kentis filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional horror films include Lake Placid, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Cat's Eye. For more Chris Kentis analyses, see Open Water.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Sarah arrives at the family's lakeside house with her father John and uncle Peter to prepare it for sale. She appears as a normal young woman helping with renovations in daylight.
Theme
Peter mentions the house holds old memories and suggests some things are better left in the past, hinting at the theme of repressed trauma and confronting buried truth.
Worldbuilding
Establishing the isolated house setting, the darkness inside due to no electricity, Sarah's relationship with her father and uncle, and the unsettling atmosphere of the deteriorating house.
Disruption
Sarah hears loud noises from upstairs. Her father goes to investigate and doesn't return, leaving her alone in growing fear as something unknown has entered their space.
Resistance
Sarah searches for her father, debates whether to leave or stay, encounters locked doors and strange sounds. She resists accepting the danger, hoping for rational explanations.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Sarah commits to searching the house after seeing a mysterious figure. She crosses into active survival mode, choosing to confront the threat rather than flee or hide passively.
Mirror World
Sarah encounters Sophia, a childhood friend she doesn't remember clearly. Sophia represents Sarah's fragmented past and the relationship that will reveal the truth about her repressed memories.
Premise
The promised premise of real-time horror unfolds as Sarah navigates the house, encounters increasingly disturbing phenomena, and pieces of her past emerge through Polaroid photos and fragmented visions.
Midpoint
Sarah discovers Polaroid photographs of herself as a child in disturbing situations. False defeat: the threat isn't external intruders but something connected to her own past. The stakes shift from physical survival to psychological truth.
Opposition
Reality fractures as Sarah's repressed memories fight against her conscious mind. The house becomes a maze of her psyche, her father's true nature emerges, and the opposition is her own denial.
Collapse
Sarah confronts the truth that her father sexually abused her as a child. Her constructed reality dies, the innocent version of herself and her family is lost forever. Whiff of death: psychological annihilation.
Crisis
Sarah processes the devastating revelation in darkness and confusion, trapped between her fractured identities and the weight of recovered memory. Her sense of self is shattered.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Sarah synthesizes the truth: she killed her father in self-defense and created the entire scenario as a dissociative break. She sees clearly that she must face what she's done and who she is.
Synthesis
The final reveal that the entire experience has been Sarah's dissociative episode. Police arrive, the real timeline is shown, and Sarah must reconcile her fractured psyche with reality.
Transformation
Sarah sits in shock, transformed from the innocent girl who arrived at the house to someone who has confronted her trauma and its violent consequences. She is conscious but fundamentally changed, no longer able to hide from the truth.