‘A Quiet Place’ makes for one of the best horror films this year
By Jack Murphy // Staff Writer
Alongside Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, John Krasinski directs and stars in the new horror film, “A Quiet Place.” In this futuristic film, creatures that hunt through sound have overrun the Earth. The film takes place in the woods, with Lee Abbott (Krasinski) and his wife Evelyn Abbott (Blunt) alongside their two children Regan (Simmonds) and Marcus (Jupe). They all can speak sign language because Regan is deaf, which they use to their advantage to make as little noise as possible when avoiding the creatures. The family has to live in silence or else they will be killed. This is Krasinski’s big budget directorial debut, and what a debut film it is.
“A Quiet Place” is a top notch, suspenseful thriller from start to finish. Krasinski directed brilliantly, making every shot have a piece of information to pick up on. At no point does the film get boring, even if the characters don’t speak or even move. Krasinski also manages to get the best performances out of his actors, especially Simmonds and Jupe, who give some of the best child actor performances I’ve seen in a long time.
But if there is one actor who steals the show throughout the film, it would be Emily Blunt. She put me on the edge of me seat as she avoids these creatures, and she consistently gives 100 percent throughout the movie.
“A Quiet Place” is a film that is focused on as little sound as possible, while also trying to create an intense tone to keep the audience on their heels, and Krasinski nails it. The sound design and the atmosphere are some of the best I’ve seen in a horror film since James Wan’s 2013 horror masterpiece, “The Conjuring.” I noticed throughout the movie that many of the film’s more tense moments were heavily influenced by “Jurassic Park,” specifically the Velociraptor sequences and the infamous T-Rex scene.
There’s only one flaw I have with “A Quiet Place,” and that is the creatures themselves. The rules for them make sense, and they still are pretty scary. However, these creatures are computer-generated monsters. While I understand they had to go in this direction in order to capture some of the things these creatures had to do, it would’ve been a lot more terrifying if the creatures were practical animatronics or puppets. For example, if the shark in “Jaws” or the velociraptor in “Jurassic Park” or the werewolf in “An American Werewolf in London” were CGI and not practical effects, it takes a lot away from the moment, because the audience doesn’t believe they are really there. While the creatures in “A Quiet Place” still work, I would’ve personally appreciated it if there was more practicality with the monsters and their design.
“A Quiet Place” is an incredible and intense thriller that I implore everyone to go out and see. This is as fun theater experience as well, and this film deserves as much attention and love as it can get.