A Quiet Place: Silence is Golden
Just how quietly could you live your life? That question is a core to A Quiet Place. The world has been devastated by creatures that hunt purely on sound, and those that have survived, have done so silently. A Quiet Place is an amazing movie, filled with unrelenting tension, great characters brought to life by great performances, and will end with you leaving the theater afraid to make a sound.
The plot of this is simple enough, but told in superb fashion. A family is struggling to stay alive in the apocalypse, and what lengths will the parents go to to protect their children? What sets this apart from many other films like this are great performances by those playing the roles. Director John Krasinski's performance as the survivalist leader of the family, desperately trying to prepare his family, is a true highlight, showing just how good he can be. Emily Blunt does an amazing job as the mother, dealing with being deep into a pregnancy, while being the emotional pillar of the family. The truly standout performance belongs to Millicent Simmonds, who plays the deaf daughter Regan. Having dealt with tragedy, as well as tensions with her father, Regan is a young teen dealing with a horrible situation. Simmonds brings this character to life, making Regan a sympathetic, relatable person. This is easily a character that could've been made annoying very easily, but Simmonds avoids that trap extremely well. This movie is very much a character study, allowing a ton of development in the first half, before everything goes to hell later in the movie. It allows the film to have some genuinely emotional moments.
Another well done aspect is the world building. This film is strictly focused on this one family's struggle. The only way information about what happened is given through newspaper clips. Touches that show that people tried to be smart about surviving are seen in the background, such as potato chips not being touched in a store, because the bags make too much noise. This film does a great job putting this family in a world that feels lived in, and despite us only following this family, there is something going on a worldwide scale.
Tension is something that lingers throughout this film. Early in the film it is established that no one is safe, and from the moment on you are on the edge of your seat. You join this family in believing that any noise louder than the slightest of whispers will bring swift death. The uneasiness of just so much silence for a large majority of the film adds to the nervousness. The creatures themselves, ratchet up the terror. Many were concerned that this movie would not show the creatures off too much, or if they did, they would not be that impressive. Fortunately, the creatures are well designed, and any time one of them lurks around, it resulted in genuine concern that this family may not make it. This is a legit scary film, that will stick with you even after you leave the theater.
A Quiet Place is fantastic. In a time where horror films are seeing a lot of genuinely great additions to the genre, this one is very much near the top. A combination of great performances, a unique take on the apocalypse sub-genre, and just unrelenting terror serves up an incredible movie that deserves to be seen.
5/5
