In this lush, hushed drama, a group of rural adolescent boys deals with a mysterious death. It feels like “Stand by Me” minus the dialogue, right down to the grubby T-shirts, the shaved heads and the casual danger-courting that comes so naturally to a group of roving kids during an unsupervised summer.

But, man, you miss the dialogue. First-time feature director Daniel Patrick Carbone constructs a hazy narrative following brothers Eric (Nathan Varnson) and Tommy (Ryan Jones) as they drift through the woods, poking at dead animals with sticks and exploring abandoned structures.

There’s an undeniable beauty to be found in the naturalistic performances of Varnson, Jones and their friends — halting snippets of conversation about mortality are interspersed with shoves, shared adventures and games of “Mercy.” But the many silences in “Hide Your Smiling Faces” don’t speak quite loudly enough, and the film ultimately gets bogged down by its own ponderousness.