Rent The Tribe (2014)

Silent, Brutal, Unforgiving - The Tribe review by griggs

The Tribe is a fascinating attempt to rework silent cinema for the modern age. Told entirely in Ukrainian sign language—without subtitles, narration, or soundtrack—it throws you into its world with no safety net. At first, I felt adrift, but quickly realised that language extends far beyond words. The story unfolds through gesture, expression, and atmosphere. It’s a striking and original approach, but also a tough watch. The brutality is unflinching, and the characters, while compelling, are deeply unlikeable and difficult to connect with. By the end, I was absorbed yet unsettled—moved by the craft, but kept at a distance by the grimness of the world it depicts.

Original, Wordless, Nihilistic Drama about Feral Deaf Kids in Ukraine Going to the Bad... - The Tribe review by PV

Well, set in a boarding school it may be, but Harry Potter it ain't. In this original, wordless (and no subtitles), nihilistic Ukrainian film, feral deaf kids go on a rampage and run amok in what is a special school but more like a prison.

I admire independent films, they take so much effort to get made over years. And this is a well-made film, a truly unique experience, wordless, no subtitles, all set in a special school for the deaf (which resembles a prison more). I did think I would not follow the story, but I did, partly as the director spells it out, many long scenes with a static camera, like Chaplin films or that contemporary French director whose name I forget.

This is a miserabilist, depressing, nihilistic movie, where all characters are amoral or immoral. The criminality, violence and sexual exploitation runs rampant, and the main character wants to belong to 'the tribe' so gets sucked in. The actors are great, all amateurs, but really superb.

But really, at its core, the plot of this film is all about JEALOUSY and the poisonous toxic effect it has on this one young man - who is an outsider, like Othello (a play from an old story about JEALOUSLY not race - that is our age's projection. Othello is a Muslim convert to Christianity to belong, but never trusted because of that, which feeds the seed of jealously planted in his brain by a malicious enemy Iago).

Anyway, it is a film to admire rather than like, with a director and actors who have never made anything else. This won many awards and is a unique cinematic experience but not pleasant, and is deeply depressing ultimately with shocking violence. Amorality infects everything here. SO be prepared.

reminds me a bit of the great 1979 UK film SCUM or prison dramas about abuse really, or maybe DIRTY PRETTY THINGS.

3.5 stars rounded up.