A Quiet Place is out in theaters now and to say that John Krasinski knocked it out of the park with this captivating horror film would be an understatement. Much how last year’s Get Out was a refreshing look into a different aspect of the horror film genre, A Quiet Place explores a post-apocalyptic world in the unique way of making sound pivotal to life or death itself.
Early in the film we follow the Abbot family throughout an abandoned supermarket as the family of five gathers supplies you would look for in an apocalyptic scenario. We learn that the Abbot family are still adapting to survive, using various techniques such as sign language as communication, instead of anything that would make a sound.
A Quiet Place does a great job throughout the film of taking moments where we get to “hear” a sound and maximizing the suspense by showing us what exactly the creatures can hear. The family experiences a loss early on, and we begin to see how just surviving day to day is a daunting task. The film explores the differences in decision making when it comes to adapting to survive, whether it’s the removal of plates and silverware or walking around everywhere completely barefoot. The movie does a lot to add to suspense by adding the everyday routines to the film to show the audience that even the smallest aspects of life would need to change to survive.
The intensity from this movie picks up from there as we travel a year into the future to see the Abbott’s family dynamics in full effect. We see how the family deals with the loss of their youngest child, and how they prepare for an eventual arrival of a new family member.The cast is beyond great with their story telling in the film, which in the absent of words is done mainly in body language, facial expressions, and sign language. Every character really gets a moment to shine as we see each of them overcome some type of inner struggle throughout the movie.
One of the things most enjoyable about this film are how certain aspects or themes are revealed to the audience before our main characters are introduced to them, which helps us to see how they continue to adapt to face their otherworldly threat and adds to the overall feeling of suspense.
Overall, A Quiet Place hits the mark, becoming an instant stand out in the genre of horror. John Krasinski directed a film that captures the many beautiful aspects of family and uses those bonds to give a true heart to this movie. He also raises the stakes of suspense by taking something as innocent as sound and pushing it to the extreme. This film isn’t dragged down by endless jump scares and has incredible character development which helps you invest yourself into the overall story. A Quiet Place is a film that many people will enjoy for years to come and is a new bench mark for what horror films should thrive to be.
4 out of 4 stars.