Movie Review: 'A Quiet Place'

Welcome, everyone!!

Wow!!

This was the most quiet movie you will ever see in a theater and it was absolutely fantastic!

From beginning to end, the movie caught all of our attention and left us at the edge of our seats. It was very suspenseful and it was sad when the father had to sacrifice himself to save his two children and left his family behind.

I am yours truly, Michael, and today, we will break down this horror/suspense thriller and how it all unfolds.

So, without further ado, let's dive right in!

The family is taking a walk!

A Quiet Place was directed by John Krasinski and it stars him and Emily Blunt with some terrific young actors who played a family trapped in a world that has been overrun by monsters. The monsters are easily accessible to sound, with the slightest noise drawing them in. We spend almost an hour watching this family struggle to stay completely silent. This is a nerve-shredding thriller. The movie was intense from the opening scene to the very end. Krasinski proves himself to be more of a capable director and maximizing the suspense by choosing what he focuses on. When he reveals things to the audience versus when he reveals them to the characters, it really affects the suspense level.

The scenes with the creatures are rarely about them. The movie is about the characters. This is not just a monster movie. It is a movie about people and there happen to be monsters lurking around outside. Like all of the other horror films, this movie focuses strictly on the characters and it is about one family struggling to survive. It is sort of an odd combination of both Tremors and Ten Cloverfield Lane. The benefits of having a talented cast and one concept taking to its extreme is what makes A Quiet Place a box-office hit.

The family is walking on a trail in the woods!

From the opening scene, the stakes are established and the threat is very real. It is clear that even the slightest sound could result in death. Whereas in some films, if you create noises on the ground or they hear you based on the vibrations of you running, the monsters will come after you, you could still escape. Now in this movie, if you make a noise, you are probably dead—like instantaneously. So, there is this considerable level of fear throughout every scene, as these characters use sign language, body language, and facial expressions. This is how we can understand the story and even subtle character nuances without needing words.

Since the dialogue is subdued to tell a story like this, the filmmaker has to know how to communicate to the audience without saying much. Krasinski and his fellow actors excelled at this movie. Since the characters are forced to live in this world, they have to change their way of life. This leads to one of my favorite aspects of this film. Watching their new way of living and instead of using plates, they use a lettuce leaf and they eat with their hands instead of using utensils.

A Quiet Family Dinner

The family will play a board game, but they use pieces of fabric instead of metal pieces. For the most part, they make valid choices. Often in horror films, we find ourselves angry with the people on screen and we are baffled by their idiotic decisions they make. Nevertheless, everyone seems to have a pretty good head on their shoulders. Having constructed a complex system around their farm, it helps warn each other if something is wrong. That being said, this is a film that could only exist specifically in this time period setting. From the very beginning, we are told that it is “Day 89,” indicating that its 89 days into what started in this current predicament with these monsters on Earth.

So, the family already have a system in place. They already figured out some things. We are seeing how a family has learned to survive. It would be a drastically different film had it been on day one. Having it be later in the event, wherever that event is. We now can see a family that has constructed a system that works, which makes you appreciate these characters more. Because they are actually smart for the most part.

John is leaving his wife and daughter behind with his son!

Admittedly, some characters do make some odd choices. There is some confusion and unanswered questions. For one thing, it's never explained how they still have electricity. If it is a generator, I do not remember seeing one. On top of that, it will make a lot of noise if they had to restart the generator. So, there are nitpicks and unanswered questions. This is simply a film about one family and we only learn what they learn. We do not know much of the outside. The characters sometimes go up to this big mill they have and light a fire. You can see that in the distance, there are other people who also have fires.

So it is not like they are the only people left, but they cannot really go into the world that much. Due to the fact that they have to make no sounds, otherwise, these monsters will come out of the bushes and kill them. So the fact that it takes place later, in the timeline of whatever this event occurred, it gives this specific story some credibility. We are to assume that they have discovered something ot figures some things out.

Emily Blunt

You can nitpick here with ideas about how to kill the monsters that these characters are not using, but many of those ideas assumed that this family has endless supplies, access to military weaponry, and things like that. If you start to over-analyze this film, I think you are missing the point. This is a suspense thriller with some really good scares. Terrific performances across the board. Krasinski does a lot of great things on the screen and this is probably as a director, he knows exactly what this film needs.

Whenever a director and an actor make the same project, you can really tell that they understand everything about it, from beginning to end. Krasinski knows what this film needs heightened power and intention. Emily Blunt is amazing as well and they have great chemistry, which they are a couple in real life. Also, the young kids did a great job too. Especially since the daughter they have is in the film and in real life.

That is a very authentic performance.

I am sure she understood and had a lot to bring to it.

John and his children in survival mode!

While I always did not necessarily find myself wrapped up in the family’s lives, I was always interested to see what they were going to do and what decisions they would make. By the end, I found myself caring. This is a good old-fashioned thrill ride. If you have been missing that in the movies and if you need to restore faith in mainstream horror, I think A Quiet Place can do that for you.

Grade

I am going to give this movie an A-.

This is simple and to the point thriller that does not try to be anything else that it already is and it knows that.

I am going to do more posts I do not normally do here on Vocal, like new and older films, which will be pretty fun. I really enjoyed this movie and cannot wait to do more movie reviews.

That is all the movie review I have for you today!

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