A Quiet Place Movie Review
by Sahil Singh
John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” is a nerve-shredder. It’s a movie designed to make you an active participant in a game of tension, not just a passive observer in an unfolding horror. Most of the great horror movies are so because we become actively invested in the fate of the characters and involved in the cinematic exercise playing out before us. It is a tight thrill ride — the kind of movie that quickens the heart rate and plays with the expectations of the audience, while never treating them like idiots. This movie succeeds in keeping the focus on its intriguing basic notion of aliens that can’t see or smell but can only hear. This approach allows us to become invested in this tale of a family struggling with the fallout from an alien invasion, and adds a real sense of danger, as these aren’t characters being set up as the heroes of several follow-up films.
We open on the Abbot family looking for supplies in an empty supermarket in an abandoned town. You quickly begin to see the coping mechanisms they’ve designed to remain silent at all times including using sign language, which they already knew because Regan, the oldest child (Millicent Simmonds) is deaf. Immediately the silence of the film builds a world that is palpably tense.
The monsters are fast and can appear at moments’ notice, as we soon discover, and the combination of this and the silence will leave you nervous for the whole movie. There is a moment in the latter half of the film when Blunt and Krasinski, in the lead roles, talk at a normal level and even though the content of the scene is dramatic it still feels like a moment where you can take a breath.
This constant feeling of tension is credited to, not only the core concept and writing but also Krasinski’s directing. The choice to make an alien come monster film with no context or origin story is brave and pays off well in enhancing our care over the family’s story. We spend no time questioning where these creatures came from but instead fully imbed ourselves in the lives of these people at this moment. It feels like every shot has been considered incredibly carefully as the film ticks like a clock on a bomb, perfectly balancing scares with scenes that set up the emotional stakes and the world of these characters. The film has a beautiful sense of geography, almost all of it takes place on a farm that Krasinski and his technical team layout in a way that allows us to feel like we know it. This is not one of those films that mistake shaky camerawork for horror storytelling. It’s got a refined visual language that plays beautifully with perspective and the terrifying nature of a world in which we can’t yell to warn/find people or, in the case of the deaf daughter, hear what’s coming.
Good job Jim
On that note, there’s also — without spoiling anything — a strong, enabling message at the core of “A Quiet Place.” It’s a film that’s about empowerment more than shelter, and it’s that emotional hook that really elevates the final act. It helps a great deal that Krasinski completely sticks the landing. With that said, this is so well-made that one can’t help but be impressed by what the writers and director pulled off. There’s some great tension throughout and this is certainly one of the better horror movies in recent years.