For a film titled A Quiet Place this is making quite a lot of noise. Sporting a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes this film is being heralded by some as an instant horror classic. While I wouldn't go that far with my praise for it, I can confidently say that this is a damn good movie.
This film follows a family in the midst of what I'd assume has become a world-wide crisis. They are hunted by monsters that hunt with sound, leaving all survivors unable to make a sound. This family consists of a father played by John Krasinski, a pregnant mother played by Emily Blunt, a son played by Noah Jupe, and a deaf daughter played by Millicent Simmonds, and follows them trying to live their lives sound free.
In terms of performances I have pretty much no gripes. Emily Blunt as always is fantastic, bringing a ton of emotion and occasional badassery. Krasinski is also very good, it is clear he is growing past his days on The Office and is delivering some damn strong performances. The kids don't do anything special, but do good enough work to avoid detracting from the film. While we learn very little about each character what we do learn is quite important. For example at first I didn't realize that the daughter was deaf, so every time she became the focal point I thought the sound design was shit, but upon realizing that I thought it was a solid move.
The premise of the film alone makes for a ton of tension. Moments are so quiet it is hard to not feel at least somewhat anxious. I found the film's score quite effective, although I think it could have been used less to make more scenes quiet and eerie. In terms of the scares I think the film did well. It won't keep you up at night or anything and there are quite a few jump scares, but I felt as though those scares were earned by the tension Krasinkski built up. The concept of the film on its own is incredible, and makes for some very interesting moments, and a lot of cool ways this family has worked to keep quiet. This brings me to something I've taken issue to in some people's criticisms of the film. A lot of people are bashing the characters for being stupid or doing stupid things. For starters, very few of us would last any time at all here, these characters are forced to make very quick decisions and act on impulses but also not make any noise, so obviously there will be times they screw up. Characters make mistakes, these people are trying to survive of course but also want to still feel human, which is where a lot of their mistakes come from. Based solely on how long this family has survived silently and the innovations they've made to survive I don't think it's fair to call them stupid. They make mistakes and that doesn't make someone stupid that makes them human. If they did stupid things and consistently got lucky I may have been more pissed off, but for the most part these characters are punished for their mistakes and I found that very effective. A lot of people have also had issues with the ending and I can agree on that, it's pretty cheesy and ambiguous but not necessarily in a good way. There are also definitely some horror cliches that the film could have done without.
If what I've heard is correct the writers of this film envisioned it as a Cloverfield movie. As much as I enjoyed the film I would have loved that. The monsters have a strong resemblance to the big one that messes up New York in the first film, and the tone of the film has some similarities to 10 Cloverfield Lane. I would have much preferred to have this in the franchise over The Cloverfield Paradox, so while in the end it isn't part of the franchise, I might just pretend it is.
While there are some cliches and elements that I didn't love, I still really enjoyed this film. The world Krasinski creates is unique and tense, at times feeling like a high-stakes game of hide and seek where your adrenaline is pumping and you're doing everything possible to keep quiet. A horror classic? No. But likely one of the best from the genre we'll see this year.
Rating: 4/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
This film follows a family in the midst of what I'd assume has become a world-wide crisis. They are hunted by monsters that hunt with sound, leaving all survivors unable to make a sound. This family consists of a father played by John Krasinski, a pregnant mother played by Emily Blunt, a son played by Noah Jupe, and a deaf daughter played by Millicent Simmonds, and follows them trying to live their lives sound free.
In terms of performances I have pretty much no gripes. Emily Blunt as always is fantastic, bringing a ton of emotion and occasional badassery. Krasinski is also very good, it is clear he is growing past his days on The Office and is delivering some damn strong performances. The kids don't do anything special, but do good enough work to avoid detracting from the film. While we learn very little about each character what we do learn is quite important. For example at first I didn't realize that the daughter was deaf, so every time she became the focal point I thought the sound design was shit, but upon realizing that I thought it was a solid move.
The premise of the film alone makes for a ton of tension. Moments are so quiet it is hard to not feel at least somewhat anxious. I found the film's score quite effective, although I think it could have been used less to make more scenes quiet and eerie. In terms of the scares I think the film did well. It won't keep you up at night or anything and there are quite a few jump scares, but I felt as though those scares were earned by the tension Krasinkski built up. The concept of the film on its own is incredible, and makes for some very interesting moments, and a lot of cool ways this family has worked to keep quiet. This brings me to something I've taken issue to in some people's criticisms of the film. A lot of people are bashing the characters for being stupid or doing stupid things. For starters, very few of us would last any time at all here, these characters are forced to make very quick decisions and act on impulses but also not make any noise, so obviously there will be times they screw up. Characters make mistakes, these people are trying to survive of course but also want to still feel human, which is where a lot of their mistakes come from. Based solely on how long this family has survived silently and the innovations they've made to survive I don't think it's fair to call them stupid. They make mistakes and that doesn't make someone stupid that makes them human. If they did stupid things and consistently got lucky I may have been more pissed off, but for the most part these characters are punished for their mistakes and I found that very effective. A lot of people have also had issues with the ending and I can agree on that, it's pretty cheesy and ambiguous but not necessarily in a good way. There are also definitely some horror cliches that the film could have done without.
If what I've heard is correct the writers of this film envisioned it as a Cloverfield movie. As much as I enjoyed the film I would have loved that. The monsters have a strong resemblance to the big one that messes up New York in the first film, and the tone of the film has some similarities to 10 Cloverfield Lane. I would have much preferred to have this in the franchise over The Cloverfield Paradox, so while in the end it isn't part of the franchise, I might just pretend it is.
While there are some cliches and elements that I didn't love, I still really enjoyed this film. The world Krasinski creates is unique and tense, at times feeling like a high-stakes game of hide and seek where your adrenaline is pumping and you're doing everything possible to keep quiet. A horror classic? No. But likely one of the best from the genre we'll see this year.
Rating: 4/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
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