Film Review – The GULF of SILENCE (2020) starring Mandy May Cheetham, written and directed by M.K. Rhodes, 1 hour 25 minutes duration. (The only way I know to watch this film currently is on the streaming network TUBI which does have commercials, but it is free.)
This is an especially important film with an outré presentation. It will only be appreciated by a select audience – those who have spent years studying the UFO (UAP) Mystery. They are the audience for this film. Some of the critics didn’t watch it to the end and wrote it off as a “mockumentary.” I would describe the film as a fictional work that is rooted in truth and some unsettling possibilities about Mankind’s relation to the Cosmos and its inhabitants.
The film opens with flashing-colored lights against a very dark background; it went on for so long that I thought the internet streaming was malfunctioning. Much of the film uses sequences of strange lights or stock footage of UFOs in between the powerful storytelling of the actress who plays Dr. Laura Gale PhD. If you didn’t watch the film all the way through or you accidentally stumbled on to it without reading the description closely, you might believe Dr. Gale was a real person.
The actress convincingly describes how her personal and professional life was ruined because of an undeniable UFO encounter as an airline passenger. When her life is at a low point, she is recruited by a super-covert UFO intelligence agency along the lines of the Men In Black. During her recruitment, after she has been examined and she has signed an ironclad NDA, she is allowed to read a briefing book on exactly what the Insiders really know about UFOs.
When Mandy Cheetham describes the cosmic “Reality,” it gave me chills because it so perfectly summed up what I have learned from many years of UFO research and a love for all things cosmic. (This is in Section V titled The Assessment at about 24 minutes into the film.) She is such an effective actress that even knowing that she was playing a part, I started wondering who Dr. Gale really is. What she relates about our real place in the Universe because it resonated so strongly.
The climax of the story involves an even more intense UFO encounter while she is employed by the secret intelligence agency. I am not going to spoil the final truth that Dr. Laura Gale discovers except to say that this is a very real possibility because it does explain an underlying truth about UFO encounters that very few are willing to consider.
I keep wondering what this film truly represents to the public. Is this the Truth about the UFO Mystery cleverly disguised as a very odd fictional film? Is it just the product of a clever writer who knew what other books and films to draw from to create a real air of mystery about just how much and what part of Dr. Laura Gale’s story may be true? This film is worth watching to decide for yourself; one way or another, it dramatically captures the tantalizing and frustrating quest of seeking the truth behind the UFO/UAP Phenomena.
James Clarkson
June 15, 2021