A Quiet Place (2018)

I remember sitting in the theater, waiting to watch this film: nachos in my lap, a drink in the cup holder, and my seat tilted back to allow myself to watch the film in comfort. I was by myself, and the theater wasn’t really all that packed. I hadn’t seen a single trailer for this film, so I had no idea what to expect. When the film came on, and all the characters were silent, using only sign language, I’ll admit that I was a little perplexed.

In the opening scene, all we saw were the words “Day 89,” and various shots nearly devoid of movement and sound, save for the wind that was blowing. Then we see the child, Cade, running through the store, with a girl, Millicent, trying to find him, her hearing aid in place and the mother, Blunt, looking for something in the store. We see Millicent run to catch a toy from falling, and the fear on Krasinski’s face as he sees his child hold the toy, wary of it’s potential to kill them all. No dialogue is exchanged, save for the few bits of ASL, in the first ten minutes that they manage to create the illusion that something as innocent as a child’s toy might bring destruction, and the tension and horror that the sound of the rocket creates, even though it’s not absurdly loud, echoes in your ears and resonates in your soul, fearful for the young child’s life.

That mastery of story-telling is rare in these movies, especially horror films. Exposition is usually given to us in such a boring way: on-the-nose dialogue, but this film goes a different direction. Very much like The Artist, Quest for Fire, and WALL-E, films don’t have to rely solely on dialogue to show us all of the information needed for the movie.

We can already tell that this movie happens after some kind of apocalypse because the world looks like it always does: dilapidated, broken, devoid of people. Krasinski shows his fear and his control, as well as his devotion to his family by his taking the toy away from his child. We see that Blunt is kind and caring in the way that she smiles at her children. We can tell that Noah is a little afraid by how close he gets to his parents. We see Cade as the innocent because of his searching for toys to play with. And we see Millicent show a caring, but daring, side when she gives her little brother the toy. We see that not making sound is a big deal by the shoeless feet and the careful way in which they move. And the dangers of the world (and therefore the stakes of the world) are established when Cade meets his demise at the hands of the aliens. All that exposition, and not a single word was said. That’s impressive and ballsy for a horror film to do.

Equally important as the cinematography and the actions that the characters take in this world is that of the actors. John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are phenomenal. I also tend to enjoy movies with smaller casts and with a whopping 6 credits on IMDb, this is one of the smallest casts I’ve ever seen. I’m confused very easily and I can often lose track of who’s who in a movie, so I enjoy it when there’s fewer people to focus on.

Krasinski shows us the full gamut of his emotions in this film. He’s a father and husband who cares more for his family than anything in the world. Following the death of Cade, you can see the pain in his eyes about not only losing his son but failing his family. In the main story, he’s trying to repair the hearing aid for Millicent, trying to keep his family safe, trying to help his pregnant wife, and trying to show Noah that it’s okay to be afraid, but to not let fear rule him. He wants to atone for the mistakes of his past and this culminates in a very touching scene where he sacrifices himself to save his children, showing the lengths that he will go to protect them. Krasinski has to be brave, fearful, happy, sad, angry, calm, loving, and nurturing before the film’s end, and usually all in one scene. It’s slightly tragic that he says he’ll take Millicent with him to the waterfall next time, but never gets to make good on that promise.

Blunt has a lot to contend with, too: she has to play a pregnant woman in the apocalypse. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen that (I’ve heard about it in <i>Children of Men</i>), or at least, never seen it where the child didn’t turn out to be the saviour of humanity. And the whole scene with her about to give birth, holding in the scream that she must give until she can’t take it anymore, all while avoiding a monster that’s skulking around her house? Shivers down my spine, the whole scene is wracked with tension, and is one the most frightening things I’ve ever seen in a horror movie. While writing this review, I had to stop and rewatch this scene because it’s so good and Blunt plays it to such perfection that she may be my favourite character in the film.

In all honesty, Noah does a good job being scared, but there isn’t much to his character beyond that. Still, he’s a little kid in a world where making a sound means death, so I’ll give it a little leeway. The best scene in the movie with him is at the waterfall when he and his father get to shout at the top of their lungs and he gets to try not being scared for once. It’s a very moving and powerful moment for the child to do something and not feel afraid for once.

Millicent has got way more complexity in her character than most tweens do. She wants to be normal in a world that’s abnormal. She wants to have fun, but fun is loud. She wants to be a rebel as all teenagers are wont to do, but she knows the stakes of the world and her responsibilities that lie therein. And of course, because she was indirectly responsible for Cade’s death, she feels incredibly guilty. But not just guilty: she thinks that her father hates her because of her part in Cade’s death. That’s a very realistic feeling to have and one I’ve only seen dabbled with a few times.

Thematically, I think this movie is about fear and rising above that fear. Krasinski has to move beyond the fear of his failure and his fear of his family being without him. Blunt has to move beyond the fear of giving birth in the world. Noah has to move beyond his fear of the creatures to protect his family. Millicent has to move beyond her own fear of herself to realize that her father always loved her.

The monsters are uniquely designed, or at least more unique than I’ve seen. Their CGI does leave some wanting, but since they’re supposed to be other-wordly beings, their physicality may differ from ours. The notion of the monster itself is wholly unique, too. It’s rare to have a monster that hunts solely by sound, as most usually hunt by scent or sight. And, very much like Alien or Jaws, just because the monster does not appear in the movie a lot, does not mean that it’s presence isn’t felt. Every action that the characters take is decides whether they live or die and we see, right from the off, that these monsters kill without remorse or hesitation.

In all honesty, I can’t really go on and on about this movie because there really isn’t much to analyze on a thematic or character level, which is refreshing. The movie is delightfully simple that following it is easy but shows us enough that we can still get ingrained in the story and sympathetic with the characters. As much as I like the complexity of characters to shine through and resonate with the theme of the movie, I am a firm believer that the narrative does not need to be complex to be amazing and A Quiet Place proves it.