A Quiet Place - Review

A Quiet Place

Starring and directed by John Krasinski (TV’s “The Office” and the fabulous film “Away We Go”) and his real life wife Emily Blunt (“Sicario”, “Edge of Tomorrow” and “Looper”), “A Quiet Place” offers up something new and modern in the horror thriller genre. A story about a family of four who must navigate virtually every second of their lives in total silence after mysterious creatures land on earth that hunt strictly by the slightest of sound. To slip up even in a minuscule way threatens their survival with sudden death because “If they hear you, they will hunt you and they will kill you.

REVIEW: I have seen my share of horror films. More so horror films have been around as long as the movie industry itself going as far back to 1931 with the introduction of actor Bela Lugosi horror movie portrayal of Count Dracula. Since then we have had Blobs, Frankenstein, Jaws, Aliens, Terminators, Predators and Jason Voorhees to name a few. In each of these prior instances the danger of the beast stealthy lurking about was always the object of the movie goers primortal fears…………….”where is it, who will it kill next”. 

But in Director Krasinski film the fear of some creepy looking monster lurking about in the shadows is more of an afterthought to the actual real source of films angst. In his film the real predator is the misstep of making a single “sound”. A sound or any sound for that matter that could end up getting you killed and from my perspective this is one master stroke of a plot idea to this unique story which Kransinki executes almost flawlessly with great attention paid to the slightest detail.

Adroitly the film works steadily on your subconsciousness by compelling you to silently asking yourself, “could I be totally silent day after day just to survive just not to be killed”. It’s a profound question, especially given in reality we live in a country – a world where most people can’t even keep silent when they live totally alone.

“A Quiet Place” taps into a unique kind of fear not so much as a horror fear per se, but more as an exercise in creating nonstop tension as the form of fear itself. A raw steady relentless tension churning like a knot in your gut every single second of its 90 minute running time. A tension immersing you into an unusual existence where you constantly asking yourself again and again "could I keep that silent not to die?" An existence where simply bathing could get you killed. Coughing could get you killed. Eating with basic utensils could get you killed. As a point of humor on my part according to the film’s plot I can only conclude even eating too many bowls of chili with kidney beans could get you killed, if you get my after effects meaning (wink - wink).

In a nut shell "A Quiet Place" is riveting.  A piece of work that is both fast paced and yet very patient that at its core is brilliantly parts of anything Spielberg has done, George A. Romero “Night of The Living Dead”,  Alfred Hitchcock “The Birds" and M. Night Shyamalan “The Sixth Sense”. A film that on one hand sets out to torture its audience with a modernly wonderful, terrifying and emotional suspenseful experience and on the other hand show the power of love of a family trying to survive.

There is one scene in the last 30 minutes of the film that is nothing short of just pure genius where we see Emily Blunt’s character trying to manage her pregnancy. I won’t dare ruin this by saying anything further, but the intelligence by Krasinski to give this some serious thought as being something plausible was something I will not easily ever forget.

In the end this taut thriller is less about trying to scare you and more about the importance of a nuclear family plays in raising their children. It does a fabulous job in showcasing the love and the care this father and mother give to their children; to feeding them, to sheltering them and above all protecting them from the evils of the world. The chemistry from the small children and the husband and wife tandem of Krasinski and Blunt is endearing and genuinely heartfelt. Not only do you intently believe what you are seeing on the screen every minute in the way of these characters being a real close knit family, you find yourself deeply, deeply caring for their wellbeing which is never no small achievement in modern film making.

“A Quiet Place” is a smart poetic suspenseful thrilling reminder of when we are stripped away of IPhones, vacations to Disney world, trips to the mall, fast food, fast cars and other material things, all we are, all we will ever need be is an enduring bond of love between parents and our children. And this first rate visual effort by John Krasinski while nearly a silent film in reality nevertheless communicates in large broad strokes why we instinctly run to embrace our children at the end of the day and they equally run to embrace us back………………..they – we feel protected in each other’s arms.

PS: I am still smitten with Emily Blunt.

4.00 Stars