A Quiet Place: Film Review
I have shied away from horrors in recent years but I had to check out A Quiet Place because I love Emily Blunt and was intrigued about her teaming up with her real-life husband John Krasinski, who directs, co-writes and co-stars, and I’m glad I did because it’s not just a good horror, it’s a good movie in general.
It is the not-so-distant future and civilization has been practically wiped out by monsters who hunt by sound. Blunt and Krasinski play parents who are grieving the loss of their youngest son, preparing for the arrival of their new baby, and trying to protect their kids Regan (Millicent Simmonds), who is deaf, and Marcus (Noah Jupe) from the monsters and raise them with a ‘normal’, noise-free routine on their isolated farm.
A Quiet Place does not rely on cheap thrills and hollow scares, oh no. It is smarter than that and all about tension, foreboding and suspense, which I could feel in my gut and chest at some points! It is slow-burning to begin with, taking its time to establish the situation, characters and family dynamics, and just builds and builds the tension before letting rip. Once the monsters come onto the scene, it is relentless – non-stop action and scares – and at times I internally screamed, ‘Give them a break!’
Because it takes its time to build characters, you actually care what happens to them, so, unlike most horror movies, I found myself so emotionally connected to it that I had tears in my eyes towards the end (if you’ve seen it you’ll know which bit). You care about the family and their fight for survival, which is rare in that genre.
I put this down to the strength of the script, which is minimal yet efficient, and the talented cast. Blunt does a lot of the emotional heavy lifting and has the most brutal physical stuff to tackle – give the woman a break! – but the main four are all excellent. Each character is well-rounded and given a fair share of screen time so you root for them all.
The characters mainly communicate via sign language and make minimal noise so you become acutely aware of how loud certain movements are thanks to the impressive sound design. Because the film is so quiet, the pulsating, throbbing beat that accompanies the approach of the monsters is really effective and it would make me start cowering in my seat.
My only issue was the obviously CG nature of the monsters. They would have been scarier if they looked more realistic, but everything else is on point so it can be forgiven. The pace is slick, and at 95 minutes, it doesn’t outstay its welcome, which I can’t say about most films. I was actually disappointed when it cut to the credits because I could have watched some more and if that’s not a sign of a good film I don’t know what is!
In cinemas now