A Quiet Place: Silence is Scary

As a horror movie fan, there hasn't been much to celebrate in recent years.  Not much has lived up to the classics of the 70's, 80's, and even 90's: Stephen King thrillers like Carrie and The Shining, and traditional slasher flicks like Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and even Scream.  So I was intrigued when I heard about A Quiet Place, a thriller in which the characters must remain as quiet as possible in order to stay alive.  Produced by actor John Krasinski (The Office) and starring Krasinski and real-life wife Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada and the upcoming Mary Poppins Returns), the film had a modest budget and was a passion project for the actor.  Nobody expected it to be the 2nd highest grossing movie of the year so far (after Black Panther).  But in my opinion, its success is well-deserved.

Krasinski and Blunt are Lee and Evelyn Abbott, a couple living on an abandoned farm in a post-apocalyptic America where mysterious, scary-looking alien creatures have taken over.  The creatures, which are blind, are attracted to sound, forcing the remaining humans to be as quiet as possible or else risk getting snatched up and viciously killed by them.  The couple has 3 kids: preteen Regan (Millicent Simmonds), who is deaf both onscreen and in real life, oldest son Marcus (Noah Jupe), and toddler Beau (Cade Woodward).  The film's opening sequence, in which the family travels back from a scavenging mission in town, sets up the unsettling aura of silence that continues throughout the movie.  They communicate through sign language and some whispering, and when one of them unwittingly makes a loud sound during their hike back home on a bridge, viewers get their 1st glimpse of the killer creatures and learn the high stakes of silence in this world.

When the audience discovers that Evelyn is pregnant, the stakes become even higher.  How is she supposed to give birth in silence without medical assistance, and then how is the couple supposed to keep the newborn quiet once born?  Surely Lee and Evelyn could have found some protection on their trip into town, to avoid the threat of their entire family getting killed by aliens due to a screaming baby (but I digress...). 

The bulk of the film is made up of a collection of thrilling cat and mouse moments between the family and the creatures in the cornfields around them.  Although it eventually becomes a bit unbelievable that the characters survive as long as they do (I won't give away who dies or when), the film presents some truly chilling sequences in which the danger is all-too-apparent.  My favorite scene of the entire movie involved Regan and Marcus drowning in corn in a huge silo, desperately trying to grab onto an old broken door, Titanic-style, to stay alive.  When a creature jumped into the silo on top of the door with the siblings clinging to life underneath, my heart practically beat out of my chest. 

While all of the actors are strong, for me the breakout here is newcomer Simmonds, who gives a subtle and emotional performance.  Regan fears that her dad blames her for past events, but when he reinforces his love for her in the most heartbreaking moment of the film, her pain and love are conveyed by Simmonds perfectly.  Surely she will go on to a successful acting career.  Regan's deafness actually plays a big part in the plot of the film, especially the ending, which I didn't love (although it didn't take away one bit of my overall enjoyment of the film).  Evelyn's birth sequence (and Blunt's portrayal of it) are also quite chilling, albeit a bit unbelievable.  When the character somehow makes her way to the bathroom and begins giving birth in the bathtub, with a creature lurking just in the background, the entire theater collectively held its breath. 

Besides the ending, my only minor criticism of the film is that the audience maybe saw the creatures a little bit TOO much.  In a suspense-filled movie like this, the scares come from what the audience doesn't know, so learning a little less about the creatures' strengths, weaknesses, and appearance may have actually worked to the film's benefit.  I was glad, however, that the film didn't spend any time explaining the origins of the creatures or how they came to arrive on Earth (if they even are aliens, that is).  If the prequel A Quiet Place: Alien Origins comes out in 2 years, then I will be none too please.  Despite my minor criticisms, I can't recommend this movie enough for fans of suspense and horror.  I was on the edge of my seat throughout, and you will be too.