A Quiet Place (2018)

Director: John Krasinski

Story: Bryan Woods and Scott Beck

Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe

Music: Marco Beltrami

Time: 90 minutes

Bottom-line: Simple, effective and frightening

Krasinski’s science- fiction horror film stars Emily Blunt and Krasinski himself in the lead roles. Set in a dystopian future, this story is like a Black Mirror episode with aliens.

The year 2020: the human population has been nearly wiped out by an alien species without sight, but with hypersensitive hearing. These creatures have a seemingly impenetrable armoured shell, and attack anything that makes a sound. One family survives: a husband Lee (Krasinski), his wife Evelyn (Blunt), their deaf daughter Regan (Simmonds) and their sons Marcus (Jupe) and Beau; they scavenge for food in a deserted town. Beau is soon killed by an alien when his toy makes noise. A year later, Evelyn is in the final stages of pregnancy, and Regan is feeling guilty over Beau’s death. One day, Marcus and Lee go fishing, Regan visits Beau’s grave, and Evelyn, alone at home, goes into labour. Unable to control her pain, Evelyn’s screams attract nearby aliens. How do the others save her?

 

Krasinski as Lee, Simmonds as Regan
and Jupe as Marcus

Since the aliens attack any source of sound, there are hardly ten lines of dialogue throughout the film; the characters communicate entirely through sign language. There is a chilling background score, and the cinematography is brilliant. The close-ups and lighting are effectively used. There are a couple of gory scenes with the aliens but that makes the scares more effective. The dystopian setting – deserted areas and stark open lands emphasise even more on how lonely this family actually is.

The story is simple enough; there is no plot as such, but it is just a set of survival incidents. The second half of the film is almost in real time, once Evelyn goes into labour. The ending is a cliff-hanger, and the viewers can decide how things pan out after the screen cuts to black. Emily Blunt’s acting is the other main highlight. The scenes where she struggles to keep quiet and distract the aliens during her contractions bring out the best in her acting. The child actors Simmonds and Jupe have done really well too. In a cold surrounding, the warmth between the family members stands out in contrast. The scene where Lee saves his children from aliens is one of the most emotional parts of the film.  

Blunt as Evelyn

The new idea of a species attacking only by sound is pretty impressive. It makes us think all the everyday things that are actually impossible to do without making noise. The other interesting horror-thriller film that comes to mind is Don’t Breathe, where three thieves try to escape a blind man (think it’s so easy? Watch the film to find out!). A Quiet Place is well worth watching for its sinister atmosphere and Emily Blunt’s acting. 

My Rating: 3.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 95%