A Place Called Silence (2024) is a gripping crime thriller that follows Tong, a mute girl, and her mother, Li Han. Tong faces constant bullying at school due to her inability to speak. Li Han works as a janitor at the same school, powerless to protect her daughter. However, after a bullying incident, the girls responsible for tormenting Tong are found murdered. The police begin to suspect Li Han and Tong, especially when Tong goes missing. Meanwhile, the school’s headmaster grows suspicious of Zai Fu, whose daughter dies under mysterious circumstances. Zai Fu becomes increasingly unnerved when he sees girls of his daughter’s age. As the police search for Zai Fu, he retreats to a remote recreation room away from town. Li Han, convinced that Zai Fu is responsible for her daughter’s disappearance, embarks on a desperate chase, hoping to find Tong alive.
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This article contains spoilers.
A Place Called Silence (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“A Place Called Silence” opens in Jing Hwa High School, where the students prepare for a fundraiser. It is an all-girls high school. In the auditorium, there is a leakage from the roof. Handyman Lin Zai Fu is called to the school to make a temporary fix until the fundraiser is over. In the school, Li Han works as a cleaner and her mute daughter, Tong goes to the same school. After school, Tong is nowhere to be seen, so Li Han goes looking for Tong. In a room, four girls, Gao Jing Shu, Zhong Xiao Qing, Huang Wen Ling, and Angie, are seen bullying Tong. They have glued Tong to the wall, and one of the girls questions Tong about a phone. Once the girls leave, Tong’s mother, Li Han, arrives and helps Tong.
The bullies, except Angie, go to an abandoned castle. One by one, someone in a raincoat kills Jing Shu, Xiao Qing, and Wen Ling. In the next scene, we see Li Han in a raincoat plunking Kumquats from the terrace garden. While Li Han is doing this, someone is recording Li Han and Tong. At school, Li Han asks the headmaster to transfer Tong back to a special-needs class as Tong gets along with the students there. The headmaster is flirtatious with Li Han, and Li Han subtly warns the headmaster about how his daughter Angie treats Tong—saying that Li Han tells the headmaster they should help each other out. Since the crime occurred in the abandoned castle, detectives Wen and Dai check the place for clues.
Who moves into Li Han’s building?
The next day at school, a detective asks Tong to help solve the murder case as students have seen Tong with the other girls. However, Li Han arrives just in time and says after the paper boat release event, Tong doesn’t feel well. Subsequently, Li Han takes Tong home. When Li Han interferes, Dai gets furious, wanting Tong to write down what she remembers. Meanwhile, Angie says during the paper boat release event, Angie falls into the water and falls sick. After that, the other girls tell Angie they are going to the abandoned castle. Since then, Angie has not been able to reach the girls. Soon, Tong is transferred back to a special-needs class.
Now, Li Han is overprotective of Tong. There is a grocery store near Li Han’s house, and Li Han constantly talks to her husband. Even though Tong can’t speak, Li Han gives the phone to Tong so she can listen to her father. The shop’s owner, Hui, is pleased to see Tong has a father who loves her. When Li Han and Tong reach their building, they see Zai Fu has moved into one of the flats. That night, Li Han asks Tong to stay home so Li Han can pick up some kumquats. Even though Li Han is picking kumquats from her garden, she tells everyone her husband has sent them.
Why does the headmaster suspect Zai Fu?
Meanwhile, Angie messages her friends not to mess around and meet her at their usual place. In an abandoned bus, Angie is smoking when someone in a raincoat approaches and kills Angie. The next day at school, the girls bid farewell to Mr. Fang since he is retiring. After the girls leave, Mr. Fang asks Zai Fu to take some gifts home as Mr. Fang lives alone. It’s the fundraiser day. The headmaster gets anxious as he has not seen Angie the whole day. Meanwhile, Zai Fu makes temporary repairs to the roof. When the headmaster gets on the stage for a reveal, Tong leaves the auditorium. On the stage, the headmaster pulls down a rope, and Angie’s dead body falls.
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Everyone in the school panics, seeing Angie’s dead body, but Li Han only panics since she can’t find Tong. Immediately, Li Han rushes home and finds blood on the window on Zai Fu’s floor. On the outside, she sees Tong’s fallen wristwatch. By then, the headmaster informs the police that many students and teachers are complaining about someone taking photos and videos of them. Furthermore, the headmaster says Zai Fu, a social worker from Build Together Charity, lost his house in the tsunami the previous year, and Mr. Fang saved Zai Fu. Because of Mr. Fang, the headmaster hires Zai Fu as a handyman. One day, Zai Fu’s daughter has an accident and passes away. Ever since then, Zai Fu has looked at girls who are of his deceased daughter’s age weirdly.
Who is recording women secretly?
The way the headmaster describes Zai Fu, the police suspect Zai Fu to be the creepy man. At home, Li Han sneaks into Zai Fu’s house, hoping to find Tong. Luckily, Li Han does not get caught, as Mrs. Xu takes Zai Fu away, and she has some things to give to charity. Once again, Mrs. Xu asks Zai Fu to drive her downtown for some work. The police want to question Li Han and Tong about the disappearances of Tong’s classmates. But Li Han asks Dai to find Tong as she is missing. Seeing CCTV footage, Li Han realizes something must be in the black trash bags. So Li Han and the cops hurriedly check the trash bags when a man sneakily takes away some trash bags.
When Dai chases the man, it turns out he is Wu Wang — Dai’s son who had run away from home. Wu Wang is the man who has been taking videos of women. In a flashback, we see Wu Wang having a history of taking videos of women, and Dai has beaten Wu Wang multiple times because of this behavior. In one of the videos Wu Wang has captured, they can see Tong being tortured by Zai Fu. When Li Han questions Wu Wang why he didn’t report the incident to the police Wu Wang says he was protecting Li Han. From the videos, Dai also gathers that Li Han used to hit Tong often, which is child abuse and has repercussions.
Who is Huijun?
When one of the staff, Yang, is called for questioning, Li Han sees his keys and learns it is for an old recreation room. Immediately, Li Han leaves for the place as she has seen similar keys with Zai Fu. Meanwhile, Mrs. Xu learns that the police are looking for Zai Fu, and now she is afraid as she is stuck in the car with Zai Fu. Zai Fu ties Mrs. Xu inside the vehicle and enters the recreation room.
In a flashback, we see Zai Fu’s daughter Huijun, who is neurodivergent. It is Huijun’s birthday, and she hangs out with her friend Tong before school. At school, bullies like Angie and others torture Huijun, making her wear thorny rose headwear and making Huijun drink water with her hair in it. Suddenly, Tong arrives and is about to hurt the bullies with scissors when Li Han arrives and drags Tong away saying they cannot help Huijun.
The next thing they hear is someone falling. When Tong goes to check, the girls run away as Huijun has fallen inside the auditorium where Mr. Fang is teaching. Zai Fu comes to the school, and inside Huijun’s locker, Zai Fu finds a phone with a video of everything that happened to Huijun. For the most part, Zai Fu has spent time feeling depressed. Currently, Zai Fu has chained Mr. Fang and tells him that the girls are monsters and they deserve to die. When Huijun died, Zai Fu also noticed that the headmaster and the cops were trying to cover up Huijun’s death, saying it was suicide. Sadly, Mr. Fang did not support Zai Fu as well.
What happens to Li Han’s husband?
Suddenly, Li Han enters the recreation room and hurts Mr. Fang and Zai Fu. When Li Han questions Zai Fu about where Tong is, Zai Fu says she is underneath the flowerbed and adds that Tong is free. Zai Fu is hurt but manages to hurt Li Han and runs away. Unfortunately, Mrs Xu is not in the car. Once Zai Fu leaves, Mrs. Xu rescues Li Han. On the way, Zai Fu calls the cops to send an ambulance for an injured Mr. Fang. By then, Li Han catches up to Zai Fu in another vehicle. As Mrs. Xu is scared, she diverts Li Han, making the car topple. Despite the injuries, Li Han gets into Zai Fu’s car and hurts him. Hearing the cop’s vehicle, Zai Fu pushes Li Han onto the road and speeds up to the cops.
However, when Dai fires the bullet misses Zai Fu, and he stays alive. Luckily, everyone survives the accident. Five years prior, Li Han used to work as an accountant. One day, Li Han came home late to find her husband already home. Sadly, Li Han’s husband is abusive, and the people in the building realize this. That day, bruised and hurt, Li Han comes out to pick up the house keys Li Han’s husband has thrown. There, Li Han sees a coconut cutting knife and picks it up, wanting to kill her husband. In the present, Zai Fu is questioned by the police and is asked about Zai Fu torturing Tong which is captured by Wu Wang’s camera. Once again, when the cops question Zai Fu about where Tong is, he asks them to search under the flower beds.
A Place Called Silence (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
How Does Tong’s Trauma and Li Han’s Sacrifice Shape the Shocking Twist?
The cops realize Li Han has saved Tong’s number as honey on her phone to fool everyone into thinking she is in touch with her husband. In a flashback, we see Li Han’s husband dead, and Li Han cleans the stairs, and her apartment, as it is soaking with blood. Furthermore, Li Han buried her husband under the kumquat plants. Currently, Zai Fu jumps off the terrace and dies. When Dai comes to the police station, his subordinates show some evidence that Wu Wang submits to the cops voluntarily.
Dai meets with Li Han to ask her again what happened to her husband. In the video evidence, a young Tong is bleeding. At that time, Li Han comes home, and Li Han’s husband hurts Li Han. When Li Han’s husband gets back to Tong, she kills him with a pair of scissors. After that, Li Han takes the blame for her husband’s death and asks Tong to never speak about that day to anyone. Dai tells Li Han that they will find Tong, and Li Han begs Dai to leave Tong alone.
When Dai persists in questioning Li Han, she says Tong is a little child and wants to protect her. The reason Li Han also beat Tong was to teach her about boundaries. In a way, Tong protected Li Han as well. Hearing this story, Dai destroys the camera with evidence and starts yelling, saying assaulting an officer is a crime, so Li Han should let go of him.
In another scene, we see Tong is free as she is in the countryside riding in an open van. It turns out that after Huijun died, Tong placed one of the bullies’ phones in Huijun’s locker so Zai Fu could see what exactly happened. When Tong realizes Wu Wang is taking videos, she stages her torture with Zai Fu, so it seems like Zai Fu has hurt and probably killed Tong. Furthermore, Tong was present when Zai Fu killed the bullies. In the post-credit scene, we see Tong singing in a detention center.
From the post-credit scene, it is clear that Tong is not entirely mute but probably has episodes of going mute caused by her trauma. The reason Dai also created an uproar with Li Han is to make it seem like Li Han destroyed the evidence. It was Dai’s way of saving Tong and fulfilling Li Han’s wishes. The film’s biggest plot twist is that Huijun’s death is the last straw for Tong. This is when Tong decides to take revenge on her bullies.
However, this is possible because Zai Fu feels revengeful after Huijun’s death. Towards the end, Li Han seems to blame herself for what happened to Tong because of her husband. If Li Han had not left Tong alone, she probably would have been saved from the trauma. Even though Wu Wang is a creepy guy, thanks to his recordings, a lot of truth could be unearthed.
