A Quiet Place, 2018.
Directed by John Krasinski
Starring John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe and Cade Woodward.
SYNOPSIS:
A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.
Nerve shredding is the best way for me to summarise the intensity of John Krasinski’s feature directorial debut A Quiet Place. Set in the near future some kind of alien invasion has happened and the world is in ruins. The creatures that have invaded hunt purely using sound and so Lee (Krasinski) and his wife Evelyn (Blunt) and their children spend their lives in silence, communicating via sign language and attempting not to make any sound at all. Their oldest daughter Regan (Simmonds) also happens to be deaf and struggles with her relationship with her father in this terrifying world.
With the resurgence of top quality horror, A Quiet Place rightly sits amongst good company as one of the best horrors of recent years. The premise is simple and terrifying. Whilst jump scares are prevalent throughout due to the occurrence of loud noises amongst the silence, A Quiet Place succeeds in creating a family unit that you believe in and care for. When the stakes are high, I found myself holding my breath for moments at a time as if I didn’t want to make any noise at all. I cared what happened to this family and it’s a testament to the screenwriters and direction that this is done with minimal dialogue and solid performances from the whole cast.
At just 90 minutes long, the tension never gives up and one particular scene of Evelyn about to give birth and trying to be silent is excruciating in its intensity. By keeping the story focused on the family and not stretching out the run time, A Quiet Place manages to avoid feeling repetitive. Yes a lot of the scares come from trying to be silent or a loud noise, but the set-up is handled expertly to always keep you on the edge of your seat. The creature effects are also well done and the build up to their reveal works well.
Ultimately A Quiet Place feels like a film about family and togetherness. There are sweet scenes of the children playing Monopoly (with modified knitted pieces) and the parents listening to their iPod and holding each other. Real life husband and wife Krasinski and Blunt unsurprisingly have great chemistry and the relationship with the child actors feels real. It’s in these small character building moments that A Quiet Place becomes more than a good horror with a solid gimmick. It is a study in humanity and what a parent will do to ensure the survival of their child.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Helen Murdoch
