A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place

Starring Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe

Directed by John Krasinski

The Story:
Days after an alien invasion, a young family uses silence as a means to remain safe, since the creatures are only attracted to sound.  Father Lee (John Krasinski), mother Evelyn (Emily Blunt), daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and sons Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Beau (Cade Woodward) have managed to avoid detection by intricately utilizing silence to make their way around town, but after a mistake leads to catastrophe, the family is spun into turmoil.

One year later, the family is still living on their farm, and Evelyn is about to give birth to their new child.  Lee spends his time trying to find a way to stop the creatures, while also trying to make a cochlear implant for Regan, who's been deaf since birth.  Regan holds deep resentment to herself for what happened a year ago, and Marcus is constantly worried that the creatures will find them.  While out on a run, Lee and Marcus bond while Evelyn goes into early labor, resulting in drawing the creatures to the house.  Lee and Marcus race back home in hopes of protecting their family, while maintaining the element of silence.

The Synopsis:
Horror films are the most interesting genre out there, because it can literally be anything you imagine it to be.  There's no set, defined rule of order when it comes to horror, and you always expect the unexpected.  With "A Quiet Place," the rule of survival is to not make a noise, as the creatures are drawn to sound and nothing else.  This makes for a unique film experience where you expect to go in to hear people talking, but there's hardly a peep uttered throughout the ninety minute run-time.  This creates tension from the start with the audience, pulling them into the film with the characters and at times make you forget you're watching it and find yourselves becoming silent as well in hopes of keeping the creatures at bay.

The script was perfectly written by Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, and keeps us on the edge of our seats as we witness something that we can't even imagine - being silent.  In a world now where we can't tolerate even a second of silence, we wonder how a family can endure an entire year being quiet.  Witnessing this family standing strong through tragedy is amazing as well, even if the residual effects hit some harder than others.  With no dialogue, John Krasinski (who directed the film, and also starred with his real-life wife Emily Blunt) has the difficult duty to direct in a way that draws us into the film and characters without words - and he produces a film reminiscent of classic Hitchcock - right up the the MacGuffins scattered about the film.

While there's some parallels to M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" (most notably being the fact that aliens come to a world with a severe handicap), this is leaps and bounds better than anything old M. Night could come up with.  With a lean runtime, there's not a second of film that isn't absolutely necessary to the film - either be it to add tension and terror (such as Lee and Marcus seeing a man on the road) or to further develop the family dynamic (Lee and Regan's conversation about her cochlear implants almost seems like a typical father-daughter conversation).  Add in the fact that the film focuses on sound being the enemy, and Emily Blunt's Evelyn about to give birth, and you've got a tense thriller that keeps you riveted.  After all, there's nothing noisier than a woman giving birth or a child's cries, so you wonder how the heck they'll manage to survive (and also why they would embark on a pregnancy in the post-apocalypse in the first place).

For obvious reasons, you feel the connection between Evelyn and Lee, since they're married in real life, and they play to their strengths beautifully.  Emily Blunt might be the weakest physically (since, you know, she has a baby about to pop out of her), but she maintains a strong front and is tough as nails.  Likewise, John Krasinski's Lee is the ever-doting father and husband who has the weight of his world on his shoulders - he has to be the ultimate protector, and sets out to keep his family safe at all costs.

While Noah Jupe's Marcus is the least-written character who doesn't really have any true moments to shine, the film ultimately belongs to Millicent Simmonds' magnificent portrayal of Regan that steals the show.  Being deaf in real life, Millicent brings to Regan a sense of strength and willfulness that's beyond her years, yet also maintaining moments of typical teenage rebellion and doubt.  Since Regan is deaf, when the film focuses on her, there is absolute silence, which only adds to the fear (in particular one scene where she's completely unaware of the danger around her), and Simmonds is a pure delight in her performance. 

What makes "A Quiet Place" such a great film is the fact that it focuses on the family dynamic in the world turned upside down.  This isn't "Independence Day" with big-budget shootouts and hoards of aliens all around, but rather an intimate look at how one family endures the apocalypse, and manages to use their know-how and intelligence to survive. 

The Summary:
In a genre where there's a lot of terrible films ("Wish Upon" still comes to mind, and I am already going to call "Truth or Dare" another stinker), "A Quiet Place" stands out as an intelligent horror thriller with a strong cast, thrilling premise, and life-or-death stakes that draws you in breathless from start to finish.

The Score: A+