Joel Kinnaman is a speechless vigilante in trailer for John Woo's Silent Night

In the action-thriller Silent Night (out Dec. 1), Joel Kinnaman plays a man seeking revenge for the Christmas season death of his young son, who was accidentally killed in the course of a shootout between gang members. The twist? Like the recent science fiction-horror movie No One Will Save You, this film from legendary director John Woo is essentially dialogue-free, Kinnaman's character having been shot in the throat at the start of the movie.

"It was a very smart script and the story really touched me [because] I have three children," Woo, whose credits include 1989's The Killer and 1997's Face/Off, tells EW. "The biggest challenge is how do you make the audience accept a story without dialogue, and get them moved by the story, let them understand they're not missing something."

In the course of the film, Kinnaman's character physically transforms as he learns fighting techniques and gets himself in shape for the confrontation with the gang member responsible for his son's death. Woo explains that the actor "was very in the character. He was always pushing himself so hard to work out."

Woo says the Suicide Squad star "did 99 percent of his stunts, and he was also training with our fight coordinator every day, just rehearsing and training for all of the action sequences. He tried [to give] a real performance but only with his eyes, his eyes have so many stories and so many emotions. I was so happy to work with him."

The cast of Silent Night also includes Scott Mescudi (a.k.a. Kid Cudi) who plays a cop.

"When he came on the set he said, 'All I want to do is John Woo action,'" recalls the director. "[I said] 'What is John Woo action?' 'It's firing with two guns.' So I gave him two guns."

Silent Night costars Catalina Sandino Moreno and Harold Torres. The film is released in cinemas Dec. 1.

Exclusively watch the trailer for Silent Night above.

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