A Review of 'A Quiet Place'

Since its theatrical release, John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place has racked up $332,583,447 (worldwide). That is roughly $315 million, more than the overall budget (according to the IMDB page). This is a success with any film, let alone one that is classified by many as a horror. It is safe to say that this film will be discussed by the Academy when the award season comes around. In addition, John Krasinski has a future in writing and directing. The following paragraphs will include major spoilers for the film.

A Quiet Place was written and directed by John Krasinski; starring Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe. The film takes place somewhere in the Northeast during the early 2020s and follows the Abbott family. Lee Abbott (Krasinski) and Evelyn Abbott (Blunt) struggle to survive and raise a family in a world where they are hunted by creatures whose strength is also their greatest weakness. After losing their youngest son to the creatures, they once again are blessed with the terror of child-bearing. Knowing that their new blessing is also a curse in this world, they begin planning how to protect their families during this life-change. In its most simplistic form, A Quiet Place is a horror film, however, at its core the film is a metaphor for the fears of parenthood and the lengths that parents would go to protect their children.

After losing their son, Lee and Evelyn blame themselves while their oldest child struggles with feeling that the tragedy could have been prevented by her. The film portrays a real disconnect that many families face after tragedies through the relationship between Lee and his daughter Regan (Simmonds). While Regan gives her family a survival advantage through her hearing impairment that was present before the events of the film occurred, she also feels that she is the burden that caused the death of her little brother, and most-likely feels somewhat responsible for her father’s death at the end of the film. While her impairment led to the creation of the very weapon that exposes the weakness of the creatures, her father perished due in part for not doing what she was supposed to. Regan’s hearing aid emits a high-pitched sound when the mysterious creatures are within a close proximity, which becomes physically damaging. Regan becomes the answer to her father’s last unanswered question. Through his stubborn pursuit of regaining one of Regan’s senses, Lee creates the very weapon that allows his family to survive after he is gone. In the end, Lee said everything that he needed and was the sacrifice that all good parents are willing to be. Lee releases an emotional scream, which in my opinion is Oscar-worthy, because all of his love and terror could be heard in the scream.

As a man approaching 25, children have always been on the back of my mind. As I think about bringing my own children into this world, I fear the vulnerability of a child. Due to this, A Quiet Place was more relatable (I can imagine even more so for parents). The film fails to answer the question as to why individuals wouldn’t live close to a waterfall, since the creatures cannot distinguish sounds drowned out by the crash of water, but overall the film is a beautiful tragedy and inputs real and ever present real-world problems in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world. Krasinski and the rest of the writing team should be proud in making a film that goes beyond entertainment. When 2018 is over, people will still be talking about this film.

**Overall Review: 9.5/10**