A Quiet Place Movie Review

A Quiet Place (2018)

Watch the trailer
Written by: Bryan Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski (screenplay by), Bryan Woods & Scott Beck (story by)
Directed by: John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Skirt
Rated: PG-13

Plot
A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

Verdict
The sparse dialog is the hook, but it isn't a gimmick. This movie delivers. The pacing is quick with information revealed through facial expressions and sign language. The actors do a great job, and the sound mix really is incredible, taking on a heightened importance. It follows a three act structure,  and the last act is intense. This is the type of movie where you forget to breathe as you are so wrapped up into what's happening. It's intense, quick, and incredible.
Watch it.

Review
If you hadn't seen the trailers, you'd wonder what's going on when the first scene starts. A family is barefoot, tip toeing through a store in an abandoned town, using sign language to communicate. We realize staying quiet is important, and the movie quickly reveals why when the family's youngest kid pulls out the toy rocket ship he took from the store and it produces a loud sound. Everyone is panicked and with a blur across the screen, the kid is gone. It's an amazing introduction.

Was the idea conceived by parents of small children tired of the loud toys? The lack of dialog isn't a gimmick. The sound mix is amazing. There is very little dialog and sound is the driving force. Any noise above a whisper could mean death. The daughter is deaf and the movie often switches to her point of view which means complete silence. It's used to great effect.
Without dialog, actors have to actually act, relying on expressions, emotions, and sign language to communicate. This also gives the words that are spoken more importance. You don't have throw away lines here.

This isn't Krasinski's first directing job, he's done film and began by directing episodes of The Office, with his break through role starring as Jim Halpert. The directing is great, from the shots to how it drives up the tension. This family hits a perfect storm of bad luck, and while I could pick at some of the details, they don't detract from the experience. This family is perfectly suited to survive as long as they have by living on a farm and knowing sign language. I wondered how much the monsters could hear. They don't seem to pick up breathing. Do they only hunt humans? Movies often hurt themselves explaining too much, this gives us just enough. Taken at face value, it's a wild ride.

 

This is the kind of movie where you're holding your breath and gripping the arm rest. It's primarily a thriller with a few properties of a horror movie. It's got two jump scares, but they didn't feel cheap. We do eventually see the monsters.
The first third sets up their predicament, the middle develops the conflict, and the last third is the resolution. The last third is intense. The entire movie has great pacing and feels short. It never stalls or lags. The ending is just perfect. There are consequences, victory, a bit of foreshadowing, and a fair amount of blood.