Never before have I seen a film so resolutely pessimistic and relentlessly optimistic. That is not a strength. The story suggests darkness, coldness, pain. This is appropriate. The director and composer, however, insist on interjecting lightness at possibly the least believable intersections. It's not that Michael Tuchner's direction is necessarily bad - he allows Kiefer Sutherland to give one of the best performances of his career - but he can't or won't decide which kind of film he wants to make.Sutherland is what makes this work. Sure, Ron Silver is good, Marsha Mason, too. But these are expected performances, by-the-book characterizations. Kiefer Sutherland is the only reason you'd really want to see this. The scenes that are completely given over to him, his illness, the inner workings of his mind - these are the moments when "Trapped in Silence" takes you in on a deeper level.In the end, you can feel the limitations of the format. The TV movie feel gets tiresome once you realize it prevents a certain level of ferocity that might otherwise be present. Still, it's a good story, and it feels real enough. Definitely worth it for early Sutherland.

I thought it was pretty good! and I am not saying that because I was there ;) In a small town Wingdale, NY a made for TV movie was being filmed. Using a closed psychiatric center (Harlem Valley Psychiatric center). They were calling for extras so I said what the heck and went down, signed up and was accepted as an extra.I spent about a week on the set with Kiefer Sutherland and the rest of the cast. This was the first time I ever heard of Kiefer, but I knew his fathers fame (animal house, body snatchers etc...). I hung around with Keifer, he was really a down to earth guy, pulling wheelies on the wheelchairs etc... I made sure I had a photo snapped of me and him! While I was there, many of the people on the set said "Keifer is going to be big star, bigger then his father" Now here it is many years later and they were right! he has become a big star.

I originally saw this film on television a long time ago. It was filmed primarily at the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in Wingdale NY, a facility that is now closed. The opening scene when Marsha Mason is walking down some stairs in front of a large window is in the Administration Building. The kids playing soccer a few scenes later in the background were workers children. The rest of the film was filmed locally in Poughkeepsie (i'm not sure where) with one scene being at the Hudson River Psychiatric Center.As a later Kiefer Sutherland fan I was quite disappointed to learn he had been near my hometown filming a movie.Overall I thought it was a wonderful movie with good performances by all.

Kiefer Sutherland's talent is incredible. I have always been a huge fan, but recently I came across this old made for tv movie and was absolutely blown away by his performance here. Kiefer is an institutionalized teenager who has exiled himself into a silent, crazy world due to years of excessive abuse as a child that culminated in a horrific traumatizing event. Marsha Mason is the psychologist who tries to discover what happened to him.I don't mean to go on and on about Kiefer's role here, but I can't help it. I was so moved by his performance. I felt myself drawn into the movie and wanted to know just as much as Mason's character what had happened to him. I don't know how easy it is to find this movie in your local video shop, I ended up buying it online, but it was totally worth the money, in my opinion. One of Kiefer Sutherland's finest performances (and there have been plenty!) and I highly recommend hunting for this one.