A Quiet Place is set in an apocalyptic future where strange creatures who have exceptional hearing, have killed most of the population and destroyed humanity. This film follows the life of one family trying to survive.
As the title of the film might suggest, this film is mostly silent with some composition strewn throughout. The sound editing and sound mixing were brilliant, every tiny noise was truly emphasised and struck a nerve for what was about to happen. The fact that John Krasinski made a film that has almost no dialogue, not only entertaining but absolutely thrilling is a testament to his abilities as not only an actor but as a director.
The whole cast was brilliant, Emily Blunt especially during the third act, she conveyed so much pain and such a wide spread of emotions just with her face, it is a testament to her astounding ability as an actress. Even the child actors were pretty good, special mention goes to Millicent Simmonds, she was the stand out of the children and was palpably convincing in her role. She is definitely a future star.
The design of the creatures was mostly fresh and interesting, however they obviously take elements of previous portrayals of monsters and add it in. The way the hearing ability was done was great, it offered a pretty unique quirk, which allowed it to stand out from the creature in ‘Annihilation’, which in itself was a fantastic idea.
The story itself was also interesting, non-conventional and gripping. There were some absolutely brilliant scenes, but also a lot of scenes that were a questionable inclusion. A Quiet Place also relies quite heavily on the age old trope of “stupid kids” which makes some of the actions of the kids seem irksome to say the least.
Having one of the children be deaf when all the have to do to survive is be quiet was a genius idea and allowed for a lot of tension to build without the character having any idea what is happening. The revelation that is uncovered later on in the film is also just a great storytelling tool.
The world of A Quiet Place feels real, from using little pieces of fabric instead of board game pieces to having lights hanging everywhere with a colour code to signal danger. It all felt natural and definitely added to the atmosphere of the film. The production department did a great job, nothing seemed out of place and every item made sense in the world.
At times is can feel slow, the actions of the children can be annoying, and the look of the creatures isn’t quite special enough to be especially memorable. However, A Quiet Place is a masterclass in tension building, and acting.
7/10
