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A Quiet Place

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Emily Blunt in 'A Quiet Place.' (Paramount Pictures)
Emily Blunt in 'A Quiet Place.' (Paramount Pictures)
Paramount Pictures

What it's about:

A family lives an isolated existence in utter silence, for fear of an unknown threat that follows and attacks at any sound.

What we thought:

There may be some horror fans out there (or those who are dead inside) that will claim that scary movies don't affect them. After watching A Quiet Place, only psychopaths will come out of that movie without feeling like their nerves have just been run over by a truck, which backed up, ran over them again, doused your nerves in petrol and then set it alight.

I have never needed a drink as much as I did after this movie, and would you believe there’s almost no gore. It’s more a terror of the ear and the heart than the visuals, mixed with a beautiful story of parenting and the importance of kids needing to hear ‘I love you’ from their parents.

Set a year after an apocalyptic event where unknown blind monsters have wiped out a noisy civilisation, a family learns to survive in silence. Their deaf daughter (Millicent Simmonds) is frustrated with her relationship with her father (John Krasinski) as they prepare for a noisy arrival.

It’s just great to see the horror genre flourish in the last few years with great acting, scripts and directing, and who knew that Krasinski, who acts in and directs A Quiet Place, would be the one to scare the daylights out of you. I also applaud him for casting a deaf actress as his on-screen daughter, who is the best at orientating the audience to a world where noise could get you killed. I have never felt so involved in the survival of characters in a horror movie, which takes its time showing you how they’ve had to adapt to this new way of life. Because of this investment from the filmmakers, it makes the build-up to the inevitable chain of events that screws up everything that much more nerve-wracking because you see it coming but you don’t know when.

As for the monsters, they would not have been nearly as terrifying if it wasn’t for the sound concept, but their faces could give a decent nightmare. They seem somewhat inspired by the demogorgons in Stranger Things, but their limbs resemble that of the dark creatures from Pitch Black. In an interview with Collider, Krasinski revealed that the creatures originally have a completely different design that he created, but he decided deep into post-production that it had to change because it didn’t work, and it really takes a strong director to make such a change to his own work. 

Although the cast was great, Krasinski acting alongside his wife Emily Blunt – who may I add without spoiling too much is the most bad-ass on-screen mother who deserves all the trophies – but the real draw of the film is the setting, script and of course fantastic sound design which becomes vital in this kind of ‘silent’ movie.

Krasinski helped rewrite the script of Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, not as well-known but with more experience in horror, and I think he brought the drama element to the film. Your heart is not only wrenched by fear but also by the tragic circumstances the parents try to raise their kids in, how guilt can sour that relationship and the need to show love in awful situations.

A Quiet Place is not a relaxing watch, but well worth the stress for such a well-thought-out horror that creates a deep connection between the characters and the audience. Not only does it have a layer of family drama playing out, it’s also a commentary on the noisy lives that we live, and how much we take for granted the ability to be able to express ourselves through our spoken words.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:

WATCH IT NOW ON NETFLIX

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