August 12, 2018
Written by: Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds
Budget: $17,000,000
Quote: "Who are we if we can't protect them? We have to protect them?"
Trivia: Actor-director John Krasinski has said that the single greatest compliment he received regarding the film, was in a tweet from the master of the horror story himself, Stephen King: "A QUIET PLACE is an extraordinary piece of work. Terrific acting, but the main thing is the SILENCE, and how it makes the camera's eye open wide in a way few movies manage."
Looking at the Stephen King tweet in the trivia above, I feel like King hit the nail right on the head with regards to why this movie is so successful. The acting, the monster, the story are all great, but it is the silence that really brings you into the film. It is this silence that heightens everything else in the film. It heightens emotions, fears, and really causes the viewer to empathize with the characters creating an anxiety that mirrors the characters on the screen. So many times during the film I found myself wondering to myself what I would do if I found myself in this situation. The film stars John Krasinsky (best known as Jim from The Office) who both cowrites and directs. Krasinski understands pacing and is able to really balance excitement and anticipation. Like a slow zombie film, it isn't the fear that you are going to die today, but the anxiety of knowing that eventually you will be killed.
A Quiet Place is at its heart a survival film. The plot is extremely simple without any side stories, love triangles, or comedic moments to get in the way of what the film is setting out to accomplish. The basic premise is that in the near future a plague of monsters/aliens have taken over the Earth and now hunt the remaining survivors whenever they hear them make a noise.
The film begins with a family of five looking for supplies. The youngest child almost knocks over a toy space ship but is saved by the sister. Afterwards the father take spaceship away from the child but it is secretly given back to him by his older sister. During the whole time the only communication is done through American Sign Language. The child turns the toy on making electronic noises and causing the dad to run towards him in a panic, unfortunately he cannot get there in time and one of the monsters rushes across the screen taking him away. Flash forward a year, the mother is pregnant, the father is desperately trying to figure out a solution to the monsters, the sister is racked with guilt over her youngest brother's death, and Marcus is in constant fear. The mother's pregnancy is the most troubling new development. How is she going to silently give birth and what are they going to do with a screaming baby?
We are given very little information about the backstory to the family and more importantly what happened with the alien/monsters. There are a couple of newspaper headlines that clue us into something about an asteroid and the grave the family builds for their son says 2020 - 2024 which lets us know this is all taking place in the very near future. Aside from that, how and why alien/monsters have taken over Earth is not important. They're here, survival is all that matters now.
One of the most intense scenes in the film happens when the father takes the son to collect fish from the traps they set and to help him understand some of the rules of survival (this is also done as a narrative tool to explain this to the viewer). Noises are okay as long as there is louder noises to mask them such as a brook or a waterfall. Anyways, while he is gone the mother is alone when her water breaks. Going into the basement she accidentally steps on a nail causing her such pain that she drops a glass picture frame creating a noise and drawing in the alien/monsters. Realizing that something is wrong, she triggers red lights around the farm to signal an alert. As the aliens walk throughout the house searching for the mother she is fighting between trying to hide from the creatures, resisting making a noise from birth pains, and making sure that her baby can be born. The father and son see the lights but seem unable to get to the house in time. Even if they could, what could they do to save the mother. The tension builds and builds and builds until the aliens are right outside of the bathroom where the mom is hiding. The pain becomes too intense until she screams out right as fireworks triggered by the son save the day.
There are numerous other scenes like this that are fraught with tension. Another area of the film that is heightens the uneasiness is the fear and responsibility the father feels for his wife and children. As protector in a world where the smallest mistake can mean death, there is a nearly impossible burden put on the father and Krasinski does a great job showing this throughout the film: from his repeated promises to protect his children, the worry that is permanently plastered on his face, the hours he spends trying to contact the outside world, and the cochlear implant he makes for his daughter. It is this implant that was be his daughter's saving grace.
There is almost nothing emotionally difficult to get through in a movie than a selfless sacrifice particularly when it never needed to be done. At one point towards the end of the film, the daughter is alone in a field when a monster comes up behind her unbeknownst to her. Her cochlear implant emits a frequency that chases the monster off, letting the viewer, but not the characters, know that her implant is basically a monster repellent. Later, her and her brother are being hunted by one of the creatures, she turns off her cochlear implant. The monster chases her into the car. It is nerve racking and I yelled at the screen a couple times, "turn it back on!" but of course she cannot hear. Instead, Kasinsky signs "I always loved you" and then screams causing the creature to tear him apart while they get away.
The visual effects of the monster, while not practical are unique and very well done. The monster vaguely resembles a giant bug aside from its head which opens up to show its extremely sensitive hearing system. The acting by every is great. I buy the four of them as a family. It also probably helps that John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are married in real life. The story idea is incredibly original while simple and straightforward. Overall a wonderful film and an brilliant job by Krasinki in his first endeavor into the genre.
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