Later, we see that their farmstead house and surroundings have been soundproofed as much as possible: painted markings on the wooden floors to show where it’s safe to step without creaking; paths through the fields and between house and barn marked out in sand to prevent crunching of leaves and twigs; a Monopoly board with felt playing pieces; dinner served on cloth, not on dishes that might clank.
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We may well be entering a new era of the already-booming horror revival. Here’s why: Movies are fairly noisy. They stock up on some things, and as they go to leave, Beau (Cade Woodward), the youngest boy, grabs a toy off the shelf. A Quiet Place will have you encapsulated with the story, and cowering in fear, afraid to breath, and especially, even speak. A whisper out of place, a glass knocked to the ground, and it’s all over.
We’re about a year out from basically The End of The World and Earth (or, at least, most of North America) has been utterly laid to waste by rampaging monsters (apparently aliens though I don’t think implicitly referred to as such) who navigate entirely by ultra-acute sense of sound. This means they only attack when they can hear people, and so we delve into the survival of a particular family, consisting of Lee (John Krasinski), Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and their three children. Scavenging in an abandoned grocery store, communicating effectively and wordlessly. “The fact that in a genuine horror movie, the first big blockbuster in history, you have a scene that is one of the most attractive parenting moments in film…”
A Quiet Place transports you to this survivalist horrorscape with the most unlikely, relatable of survivors – a loving nuclear family just trying to make it through. A single clumsy moment could bring a awful death.
What’s abundantly clear is we’ve all been afraid of the creature from the “Alien” franchise for too long. “BLIND” one bullet point reads. Ah.
The film, as I said, relies heavily on the silence of theater since most of it is without dialogue. “3 CONFIRMED.” Thank you, John. Of course, Blunt has played a mother before, but a big difference between a film like Looper and A Quiet Place is that she became a real mother herself in 2014 (and then again in 2016), so she now has a well of authenticity to draw from in her performance.
Much in the same manner as Jordan Peele did at about this same time previous year with “Get Out”, Krasinski has done with “A Quiet Place”. The virtues and challenges of being a family, of protecting your own will resonate with everyone. Emily Blunt is in the lead role along with real-life spouse John Krasinski.
Emily Blunt as Evelyn Abbott and Millicent Simmonds as Regan Abbott in A Quiet Place.
John was also a part of the writing team of the film. There is simply not a wasted moment in this film. It’s a horror movie, a monster movie even, but like the 25-ft. shark off the waters of Martha’s Vineyard, the creatures are peripheral to the human story. Now, what can be more horrifying than a situation where you are forced to give birth at a place where making a little noise can take your life. The film’s nail-biting tension makes for pleasing genre thrills and a conduit for parental anxiety. And in the proximity of the film’s overbearing sound design, in cahoots with composer Marco Beltrami’s “Sicario”-like chords of doom and relentless jump-scare cues, Krasinksi’s $17 million dollar film delivers a lot of the usual commercial zaps that may well secure him a financial success”.
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While not as fearless an experiment in “silent” filmmaking as some are making it out to be, A Quiet Place is a seriously well put together story by a filmmaker who’s clearly done his homework, and delivered his first confirmed hit.
