A Quiet Place is a horror film directed by John Krasinski and produced by Michael Bay’s company, Platinum Dunes, which is also run by Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller. The screenplay was written by Krasinski, Bryan Woods, and Scott Beck, based on a story by Woods and Beck. In A Quiet Place, a family must live life in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt exclusively by sound. While I don’t like horror movies, I opted to see this one because I was told it was a different kind of horror film that didn’t involve anything demonic, wicked, nor the usual teenagers screaming and scheming in the woods. My information was good and I enjoyed A Quiet Place.
Over a three month period in 2020, most of Earth’s human population has been wiped out by sightless creatures with hypersensitive hearing and a seemingly impenetrable armored shell that attacks anything that makes noise. The Abbott family consisting of Lee (John Krasinski), the husband and an engineer, Evelyn (Emily Blunt), the wife and a doctor, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), the daughter who is congenitally deaf in real life, Marcus (Noah Jupe), the oldest son and Beau (Cade Woodward), the youngest son, silently scavenge for supplies in a deserted town. Though skilled in American Sign Language, the family must be vigilant in their quietness to ensure they don’t make any accidental noise. Something as innocent as a battery-operated space shuttle toy is forbidden which their four-year-old Beau is drawn to, causing his father to take it away. His sister Regan returns the toy to Beau, who unbeknownst to her has also taken the batteries his father removed. Beau activates the shuttle when the family is walking home through the woods, near a bridge. After putting the batteries back in the toy, Beau becomes an instant target for a nearby creature.
A year later, Evelyn is in the final stages of pregnancy, and Lee is fruitlessly trying to make radio contact with the outside world. Lee attempts to upgrade Regan’s cochlear implant but the device fails to restore her hearing. Later, Lee takes Marcus to a nearby river to teach him to fish and explains to Marcus that they will always be safe from the creatures so long as louder sounds mask their audible movements. Their basement is specially modified soundproof but they still have to tread softly. The creatures are huge and scary. They have also rigged lights that surround their house and change to red at the flip of a light switch. This signals any of the family outside, there is danger and/or an impending catastrophe inside the house.
I must say there are a couple of things that made no sense to me but overall, A Quiet Place is a pretty good movie. There’s a lot more substance to this movie as well as many twist and turns. There are no other characters in this film and John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are married in real life. The movie was brilliantly acted, as they had almost no dialogue. I couldn’t understand why a couple would allow themselves to become pregnant in an impossible situation like they were in. Babies cry and women make a lot of noise in labor. I also didn’t understand Lee’s priorities — some of his decisions down right sucked. Despite my few quirks, I do recommend that you see A Quiet Place, it’s one of the better horror films. Check it out! BTW: A sequel is currently in the works.
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