A Quiet Place Review

In an industry drowning in cliches, leave it to a comedian to make a horror thriller that is intelligent and unique. This was the case with the Oscar-winning Get Out, a directorial debut for comedian Jordan Peele. Audiences witnessed a comedian’s addition to the horror genre with the newly released A Quiet Place. Directed by and starring comedy actor John Krasinski, who most notably played Jim Halpert on the U.S. version of The Office, A Quiet Place proves to be refreshing entry into a genre plagued with extreme inconsistency.

A Quiet Place is the story of a family living on their secluded Upstate New York farm in the aftermath of an apocalypse. The unique thing about this film, however, is that the cause of this apocalypse is a very peculiar alien race. This might sound like well-traveled territory, but these aliens are massive, blind, possess armored bodies, and have extremely sensitive hearing. They may not be able to see anything, but they will respond viciously to any decently audible sound. In order to survive this, the protagonist’s family lives underground, communicates with sign language, and takes part in several seemingly trivial practices: making sand pathways outside their house, marking spots on the floor to minimize creaks, playing board games with pieces of fabric, and eating meals on lettuce leaves.

As you can see, the premise of this film is something never seen before. Unlike some unique creature feature ideas (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and Sharknado, anyone?), this was a smart idea that paid off immensely. This movie is extremely suspenseful. I am not sure if I would call it a horror movie because it does not have the traditional setup and there are not many “scare” scenes; it’s more of a thriller. The unique premise really ratchets up the suspense. Since the characters cannot make loud sounds, the movie is very quiet. Every little sound resonates with the audience and leads you to analyze every move. It is instrumental to the entire plot concept. Overall, this is a very suspenseful film that builds up to a heart-pounding climax. A thriller needs an excellent buildup as well as a big payoff, and this one offers both.

The film also has excellent characters and acting. The audience is able to relate to the characters. Part of this is probably due to John Krasinski and Emily Blunt being a real-life couple. Their chemistry is impressive, and their relationships with the child actors are entirely believable. The child actors were also excellent in the film, something not always guaranteed with inexperienced performers. They had distinct personalities. The fact that much of the dialogue is given in sign language also says something. You can see their emotion on their face and this makes the messages resonate with viewers. In fact, the most emotional part of the film was entirely “spoken” in sign language. Thus, the acting in this film was extremely impressive. The best in the film by far, however, was Emily Blunt. Her character has to go through a lot in the film. The emotion and distress shown in her body language is mindblowing. I think it is the best performance I have ever seen from her.

It is also worth mentioning that this movie is entirely filmed in New York State, with most of it being filmed in Dutchess County near Poughkeepsie, as well as Herkimer County. Since a lot of Hollywood filming is confined to the Southern U.S. and abroad, it is nice to see something filmed in this area.

This film also has more to say than initially meets the eye. Buried beneath the aliens and nail-biting suspense is legitimate commentary on parenting. Parents try their hardest to protect their children and care for them, but sometimes these efforts are futile due to things beyond their control. Additionally, John Krasinski himself said that the film metaphorically represents the current political landscape in the United States. I will leave that to you to decipher.

All in all, this is an excellent monster thriller. It takes advantage of an incredibly unique concept and makes it into something truly suspenseful, enjoyable, and memorable. This is a scary film, but it is always very entertaining as well. It is one of the best monster/alien films ever made and one of the best thrillers in recent years. It is a fantastic film and a suspenseful one at that. It is just a good, old fashioned thriller with a refreshing twist.