A Quiet Place (2018) – Film Review
Partly-written by, directed by, and starring John Krasinski (The Office (2005-13), 13 Hours), this little piece of indie cinema came out of nowhere, and has astounded audiences coast-to-coast. With a relatively-straightforward plot, a determined “show, don’t tell” mindset, and stellar performances from all six—yes, six, including Emily Blunt—credited cast members, A Quiet Place is a silent reminder that horror isn’t completely dead, in this day and age.
Krasinski pays homage to many cinema greats; among them, Alfred Hitchcock, using his iconic “Hitchcock pan-in” on important subjects for the viewers to keep in-mind for later. This 90-minute film felt a lot longer, for all the things crammed into its run-time; an emotional ride, from start to finish, A Quiet Place hits on all the points that PG-13 horror movies have been missing for a long time. The creature design is simple, yet elegant; we know very little about these things, and that’s what makes them instantly iconic. Take 2017’s The Bye Bye Man, for instance; I was loving Doug Jones’s enigmatic entity…up until we started to uncover its identity and origin. Once a horror monster becomes more “known” to us—Alien is a perfect example of a terrifying cinematic creation besmirched by latter-film ret-conning—it becomes less scary. The less we know, the greater the horror; this is the premise H.P. Lovecraft worked with over many—if not all of his stories—throughout his authorial career. It’s aspects like this that Krasinski pays tribute to, in giving slight hints about the creatures in the film, while not outright and unnecessarily explaining them.
On the subject of names, let’s talk the cast. The main family—specifically the veterans, Krasinski and Blunt (Into the Woods, Edge of Tomorrow)—wows. Everything said between them is through subtitled sign language, or gestures and facial expressions. There are, maybe, three or four lines of spoken dialogue in the whole film. Relative newcomer Millicent Simmonds (Wonderstruck)—who’s actually, for-real deaf—shines as the up-and-coming mantle-holder, Regan, as her parents grow visibly older, due to the strains put upon them in this post-apocalypse. Being the oldest, she’ll be expected, one day, to care for her younger siblings, and the effect knowing that has on her is made clear through her eccentric performance. It’s an acquired trait, after the opening of the movie clearly divides the family, in her mind.
While stupid mistakes on the part of the Abbott kids is a constant thing, throughout, I can file this alongside the fact that these people aren’t trained survivalists; they obviously weren’t a doomsday prepper family, prior to the invasion of these creatures, so their mistakes are…justifiable. But still stupid. Common sense is, often, left to frolic in the fields while needless near-deaths happen all around the homestead. Looking past that, and the weakness of the creatures being akin to that of the aliens in M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs (2002), I thoroughly enjoyed this piece.
I, surprisingly, didn’t mind the jump-scares. Used intermittently and to good effect, it’s the silence of the rest of the film that makes them so heart-poundingly shocking. They feel necessary, here, because of that. Otherwise, it’s the mere proximity of the creatures to our protagonist Abbotts that invites edge-of-your-seat tension. It builds and builds in some scenes, and the release is as equally cathartic as it is creepy.
The score, too, is complementary to the on-screen terror. Quiet—if not outright absent—in the tenser moments, is abutted by crashes and crescendos that emphasize the circumstances of our fated protagonist family as they stave off a home invasion of these things, Signs-style.
Through cues and the unseen, we are immersed in this world and its mounting tension, right up until that last, certain moment of clarity the remaining characters have, and the cut to black and end-credits. I wish the whole film could’ve stayed as intense and surreal as the opening, but that doesn’t keep A Quiet Place from earning its ****/* ‘Risk Assessment rating.
For his first big directorial outing, Krasinski’s done a wonderful job. Experimental in its pursuit, I would definitely see it again, at the theatre.
Next review: Submergence (Apr. 13th)
