Film Review: A Quiet Place (2018)

Rate This Movie

SYNOPSIS:

A post-apocalyptic setting presents a desperate young family of a father, pregnant mother and 2 children trying to survive among carnivorous monsters with supersonic hearing. In this setting, the only safe place is a quiet one. Depeche Mode sang, “Enjoy the silence.” But I really don’t think anyone in this film is enjoying it. We are programmed to yell out when hurt, scared, or shocked. What would you do if that spelled your demise? This is the question I kept asking in in “A Quiet Place.” It was a fresh new approach to horror. I saw similarities to “Signs” and slaher films set on a farm. It also resembled the apocalyptic setting so often seen in modern horror ie; “The Walking Dead.”

REVIEW:

John Krasinski is our director and a great one indeed. This is a film of 90 minutes that I literally wanted to be a lot longer. Trust me, my patience for long movies is characteristically low. In this case however, it was done so well, I wanted to know what the characters did after the first credits appeared. Perhaps other people felt this same desire considering the sequel comes out this year, “A Quiet Place Part II.” That doesn’t mean I ached for a sequel by the way, far be that from me, they are rarely done well in my opinion.

The central premise of being hunted by sound is powerful and it works so well. After that, the foreshadowing and character development worked together to make this film amazing. I must give a tip of the hat to Krasinkski, who also plays the dad/husband of this family and fulfills the role of writer/director. I am utterly impressed with his herculean work here.

A lot of times these days in films, directors use the rule of “less is more” when it comes to their cgi monsters. They only show parts of the monster and then the audience uses their far more powerful imagination.

We are given the “full creature” here in many scenes and this really makes the film work. We have an idea what it can do and maybe how it can be destroyed. Needless to say I am very impressed also the cgi of this film. This is mostly because it serves the story well rather than try to be over-the-top. I’ve always believed CGI can help a film’s effectiveness but not without traditional elements of great acting and a stellar script. “A Quiet Place” has it all.

As alluded to before, I kept thinking in this film I was in the film “Signs.” It was like the same barbecue with different meat. Signs is more of a metaphysical/religious film whereas this one is just suspense all the way. The ending of both are birds of a feather and both films have amazing writing that makes the film worthy.

The acting is equally astounding. Metacritic has given this film an 85 and I must say I disagree. This film should be closer to 100. Millicent Simmonds (Wonderstruck) steals the show. All cast members deserve awards but her work as the deaf loving daughter broke my heart and I am sure everyone else’s in the theater as well. She was amazing and I await great things from her in the future. You may not know she is deaf in the film as well as in real life. This probably adds an indefinable realism to her scenes. All actors in this film are outstanding.

Emily Blunt pays the mother with so much to lose if the creatures hear her. You feel her tedium. Noah Jupe (“For vs. Ferrari) is the brave young brother who knows what to do in the case of a creature attack. To close, this film is categorized/labeled horror but it’s a lot about family and sacrifice. It’s also scary as hell. It’s suspenseful above all and though it starts a bit slow, patient audiences will be rewarded. In case you couldn’t tell, I recommend this film and give it the highest praise: 10/10. I am reticent to say much about the sequel. We shall see!