A Quiet Place

Show rather than tell. Nowadays, I very rarely see a movie that takes that extremely important but oft-used filmmaking rule so literally.

Set in the near future, A Quiet Place takes place in a world where sound is the enemy, or more accurately, the one thing that will get you brutally maimed and dismembered. The story follows the Abbott family as they try to survive day-to-day out in the middle of what seems to be nowhere, where a single spoken word could spell death as quickly as it is uttered. To combat this, real life husband and wife duo Lee (John Krasinski), and Evelyn (Emily Blunt), along with their deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and sons Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Beau (Cade Woodward), take it upon themselves to “sound proof” everything they do. From walking on sand to whatever location they may be traveling to, to talking to one another via sign language, to giving each other a whole lot of stares to get their points across, the Abbots are terrified of what they know to be out in the wilderness, of what thingis lying in wait for them should the golden rule of silence ever be broken. Now I won’t say much else as to not spoil anything, but just know that this is one of the few movies where knowing as little as possible going in not only ups the tension, but the enjoyment of the movie as a whole.

One of the first things I noticed while watching this film, outside of the tail end of it when some people felt emboldened to start talking out of sheer fright or just being assholes, is that I’ve never heard a theater so quiet before in my life. The idea that this film is truly more of a show rather than tell type of deal is obvious from the opening scene, and nearly every scene that follows. By being clear and concise about the rules of this world, director John Krasinski is able to ratchet up the tension from the get-go, giving us more or less a template to work off of once the thrills start piling up, and boy do they pile up.

Which brings me to my next point: when all of the thrills and tension build up, when all of the layered parts of a scene and slight teases of what might happen come to a head, this film is nearly flawless. I’d love to give an example of this, but instead of ruining or even hinting at anything that could be construed as a spoiler, I’ll just say that when we finally find out what “rockets” means, and watch as the ensuing scene unfolds, I’d be hard pressed to find a better shot, acted and executed scene in recent memory. I think I might have even uttered the words “I fucking love this movie” right as it all came together, something I so rarely admit to nowadays, which, if you know me at all, is a pretty big deal.

All that being said, I don’t know if I would necessarily call this movie a horror film, more so because the scares aren’t really all that scary, just extremely unnerving and uncomfortable. I was never genuinely scared of what was happening onscreen, but I sure as hell was sitting on the edge of my seat, hoping that the next noise wasn’t the string that finally unraveled the entire scene that had just been built up, or fearing for the lives of this family as if they were my own. It’s a completely different feeling than, say, when you’re watching a more true horror film such as The Conjuring movies or even those cheap jump scare films that go for broke every five seconds without regard to the art of actually making someone scared. No, A Quiet Place succeeds in doing something different, where the thrills are more front and center than the horror of it all, firmly cementing this film in some kind of in-between genre that can’t exactly be pinned down. It’s a brilliant way of giving the audience something to fret over while never resorting fully to the genre clichés that bog even the best horror flicks down.

But even at its best, A Quiet Place still has its flaws. One scene in particular, one of the only one with actual spoken dialogue between Lee and Evelyn, felt so off and weirdly scripted that I almost wish it wasn’t in the film to begin with. It takes place after a particularly grueling scene as a sort of tension breaker, but unlike the rest of the film, I wasn’t fond of the way it was executed. On top of that, the repetition of the same type of action beat and the constant cat and mouse aspect of some of the third act scenes are glaringly obvious in the way they are presented, seeming more obvious once it becomes clear that there’s not much pushing the movie forward once it hits its home stretch. To an extent, I almost felt a sense of being worn out by the time we got closer to the end, and even though the finale hits the same high notes as the rest of the movie, it seems like the filmmakers fluffed up the back end of the film a bit to add a few more minutes to the already short runtime. Not a big deal, but some of this didn’t ring true in regards to the how the rest of the film was paced.

Unnerving, thrilling and clever all at once, A Quiet Place is proof that a great idea headed by creative forces that clearly know what they’re doing aren’t lost in today’s blockbuster laden Hollywood landscape where most films fail in executing and delivering on their initial premise on a constant basis. Director John Krasinski is able to bring out the best in his film from pretty much every aspect within it whether it be the scripting, acting, cinematography, or – most importantly – the use of sound (or lack thereof). I applaud movies like this for trying something new and rewarding within the genre, and while the repetition of a few action and story beats as well as a couple of faltering scenes towards the tail end of the film might annoy a few, there’s so much to love – and be terrified of – that it’s hard to let it bother you. A must see in the theater for the audio quality alone, don’t be that guy (or gal) who waited to experience it at home!

And as a friendly reminder, shut your trap during this one, the people sitting around you will appreciate it.