"A Quiet Place" Film Review

"A Quiet Place" Film Review

Rating: 5/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson

    A great horror movie not only makes the viewer nervous as they watch the events unfold, but makes the viewer feel as if they are a part of the terror. John Krasinski makes us feel that in his terrifying film, "A Quiet Place". The movie only consists of twenty-five lines of dialogue, which leaves the rest of the runtime in silence. It's not necessarily a silent film due to the heart-stopping score and sound effects, but it makes the viewer afraid to make a sound throughout the entire movie. 

    A horrifying alien race has come to Earth. However, they are blind and only rely on the sense of sound to snatch their victims. This forces the surviving humans to live in complete silence in fear of being killed. We follow a family consisting of a married couple (Krasinski and Emily Blunt, who are married in real life), their deaf daughter (Millicent Simmonds), and their younger son (Noah Jupe). Krasinski's character is obsessed on finding out how to destroy these monstrous creatures and save his family. 

    The main thing everyone remembers after watching this film is its use of sound. Most of all communication is conversed using ASL (American Sign Language). Perhaps only five minutes of the movie has spoken dialogue. The film makes the silence feel terrifying, yet comfortable at the same time. The characters are scared to make a sound, which reflects back on the audience watching. When this film was released in theaters, popcorn sales were down across the country in movie theaters due to the audience not wanting to make a sound when watching this film. That fact alone shows you how much of an impact a movie can have on a viewer, and it's obvious this film had a major impact. 

    Even though the movie is mostly silent, Krasinski does an excellent job at holding the viewer's attention, and never lets it divert until the credits roll. There are so many interesting storylines that puts the viewer on the edge of their seat. One example of this is the birthing scene towards the end of the film. Blunt is absolutely amazing in this scene, as she is struggling to give birth in complete silence, while also suffering a major injury to her foot prior to this scene. The look of anguish and fear on her face is what really sells the scene. Blunt looks genuinely terrified, which makes the viewer horrified as well. This scene alone is perhaps one of the best scenes in any modern horror film. 

    This film took the movie world by storm. Not only was it a frightening film, but it showed everyone what a movie in almost complete silence can do. Viewers have never experienced a movie like this before, and I feel like this is one of the main reasons it did so well. Krasinski took a chance, making a film like this, and I believe it paid off very well.