‘A Quiet Place” is yet another solid piece of evidence that the horror genre is starting to see not only a resurgence, but a bit of a renaissance. It’s the latest of several cutting-edge films that have emerged in the past couple of years, including “Get Out” and the remake of “It.”
Directed by and starring John Krasinski (you may recognize him as the affable Jim from TV’s “The Office”), the film follows a family living a tense, nearly silent life in post-apocalyptic rural America. Every waking moment is a struggle to avoid making any noise, as deadly monsters that hunt by sound have made their way to the top of Earth’s food chain.
Krasinski has made an edge-of-your-seat tension builder that relies not on the audience’s fear of the monsters themselves, necessarily, but on the peril they represent to the characters. Krasinski and his wife, Emily Blunt, play husband and wife Lee and Evelyn Abbott, and this casting appears to have benefited the movie greatly. Lee and Evelyn, though nearly silent through the entire film, clearly are devoted parents (with Evelyn very pregnant with their next child) even in the shadow of these creatures hunting humanity.
The children struggle to exist under these circumstances, especially as their deaf daughter, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), feels guilt for a family-related tragedy early on and their son, Marcus (Noah Jupe), is rightfully terrified of growing up with such anxiety-inducing horrors lurking all around. Simmonds plays just as big a part as Krasinski and Blunt, with her desire for a working hearing aid having a very interesting role in the plot.
Krasinski masterfully shoots not only the tenderness of how the family has adapted positively to this silent and sorrowful state of living, but also how great a family they would be if the world hadn’t been overtaken by terrifying creatures. The film will put viewers on the edge of their seats. The scares are quite good, but it’s because the director chooses to attach the audience to characters rather than macabre atmosphere or elaborate set pieces.
“A Quiet Place” does take one cue from some other excellent horror films: It doesn’t show its menacing creatures, at least not in any comprehensible detail, until probably a good 45 minutes into the film. They are established and given a frightening introduction early on, but the audience is only given a vague shot of lanky creatures that hiss, screech and growl off-screen at first.
If they were practical effects of animatronics or costumes, the monsters here might become as classic as the Xenomorph from “Alien” or the extraterrestrial shape-shifter from “The Thing.” Sadly, the monsters are CGI, but still look good enough to have the desired effect.
Also, you may want to avoid other reviews online, as many seem to include spoilers about the visual details of these creatures, which are best left as a surprise.
“A Quiet Place” tells a well-formed story with a sympathetic cast of characters you can’t help but care about, offering some genuine terror, in an excellently paced film that never feels like it drags. What’s even more impressive is that it accomplishes all this in just 90 minutes, including credits.
While it doesn’t quite transcend to the level of top-tier horror classic, Krasinski’s greatly successful directorial debut is easily worth the price of admission. If you’ve already seen the blockbuster blast that is “Ready Player One,” your next obvious choice is a brisk, entertaining and terrifying time spent in “A Quiet Place.”
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“A Quiet Place” is currently playing at the Riverside Cinemas, 1017 S. Boone St. in Aberdeen.
George Haerle holds a bachelor’s degree in creative writing for media and lives in Cosmopolis.
