Story by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck
Screenplay Written by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski
Directed by John Krasinski
***1/2 (three and a half stars)
RATED PG 13
It is a concept so ingenious that I cannot believe that I haven't already seen it.
John Krasinski's surprise smash hit horror/thriller "A Quiet Place" is a film that I did indeed want to see this Spring but truth be told, I actually avoided because I was...well...too scared to check it out in the theater. You see, and as I have previously written upon this blogsite, I am not really a fan of horror films for a variety of reasons. But mainly, I hate their preponderance of displaying relentless amount of gore as a substitute for storytelling, especially the equally relentless and reprehensible amount of violence against women.
Most of all, I just do not like the sensation of being scared. Yes, psychological thrillers and levels of intensity are one thing and neither of those elements are necessarily ones where the intent is to make you fearful of something. Of course, I have seen many horror films, both terrible and iconic, but that being said, there was something within the concept of "A Quiet Place" that made me feel that perhaps it would be better for me to watch at home.
Now that I have finally seen the film (at home), and now know what the fuss is all about, I am happy to add my voice to the chorus of those who have embraced the film as a first rate example of what the whole genre can accomplish at its finest. Almost. Now do not worry that I will be raining upon this particular parade but there were some nagging issues I had with the film that kept me from going over the top with it. That being said, what John Krasinski achieved was indeed exceedingly effective, stylish, innovative and rightfully, honestly scary.
Set in the near future after an unknown apocalypse has unleashed a race of blind, ravenous creatures who hunt by sound have seemingly wiped out most of the Earth's population, "A Quiet Place" stars John Krasinski and Emily Blunt as Lee and Evelyn Abbot, a scientist and doctor, respectively who are still attempting to survive in this horrific new world with their family, which includes young son Marcus (Noah Jupe) and their deaf teenage daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds).
Walking barefoot everywhere they travel, including around their own house, and speaking exclusively in sign language, playing board games with soft pieces, dancing to Neil Young ballads played solely in headphones, and "living" life in all manner of ways as to not utilize any sounds to attract the aliens, the Abbot family's intensely precarious existence continues relatively peacefully...
...until Day 472.
For those of you who have still not seen the film, I will leave the plot description at that point so as not to either spoil or reveal terribly much to dull your own reactions. But that said, John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place" is indeed extremely effective, perhaps a bit more style over something completely substantive but even as an exercise in style, Krasinski shows that he is a director with skill to burn.
Again, and while I am completely unsure if a concept like this one has been executed in the past, I have to say that I am surprised that I have not seen a film quite like this before, which made the experience of seeing "A Quiet Place" quite the treat even as it made me jump out of my seat. First of all, great mention must be given to the film's stellar sound design which surprised me in various fashions. In actuality, even with the lack of very much spoken dialogue at all, the film is actually NOT a full fledged silent movie, essentially what I was wondering it would be and precisely why I stayed away from seeing it in theaters as I just didn't wish to be startled again and again by sonic jump scares. Composer Marco Beltrami's unsettling score is prevalent but never over-bearing. Aside from the music, what Krasinski has achieved is much more complex and often brilliant in keeping you off guard sonically.
I enjoyed how deftly Krasinski established the rules of this new terrifying world. About how sound is used, how it travels, how day-to-day life can exist without sound plus on a more cyclical and existential level, how natural sounds have become the world's soundtrack once again. I liked how human sounds can be masked by louder natural sounds like a rushing river or even a small waterfall, therefore keeping the Abbot family safe but also, and more poignantly, eliciting precisely what has been lost in human life when we are no longer able to truly give voice to our existence, except under supremely controlled circumstances.
Furthermore, there is the character of Regan, who is indeed performed by a real world deaf actress. Having ALL sound drop away, gives us in the audience a perfect simulation of what the world "sounds" like to her plus simultaneously raising the dramatic stakes considerably as she will never be able to hear a monster approaching her. This quality does indeed give "A Quiet Place" a specific gravity that makes it stand out more than just being a thrill ride.
With a framework that recalls films like M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" (2002), Francis Lawrence's "I Am Legend" (2007), John Hillcoat's "The Road" (2009), Jeff Nichols' "Take Shelter" (2011) as well as various early Steven Spielberg films in which ordinary people find themselves faced with extraordinary circumstances, "A Quiet Place" is brisk, inventive and unquestionably grueling during several sequences, mostly involving Emily Blunt's character as she attempts over and again to evade the monsters after finding herself in one horrific predicament after another. And in doing so, Krasinski conceives of one ingenious yet always conceivably narrow escape after another, especially with humans making or not making sounds are key to survival.
But again, I turn to the Abbot children in which they embody the more painfully allegorical elements of the story, for what does it mean to try and raise children in a world that is doomed? I can only imagine what the deep, psychological inner lives of parents are in our current 21st century landscape with all manner of political, environmental, cultural and societal horrors as constant elements of our everyday lives. Even with my one step-removed as being a preschool teacher, I am profoundly troubled with the world the very small will be growing up into and how will all caring adults and especially parents be able to protect them. John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place" is a deeply perceptive allegory to the fears and sacrifices of parenthood and the frightening possibility that for all of our best efforts, we just might not be able to keep our children safe from danger and maybe even death. If anything is the true engine of the film, it is that very concept, which Krasinski never exploits but always keeps powerfully intense.
To that end, I have to give the film credit for being yet another film I have seen this year, much like Brett Haley's wonderful "Hearts Beat Loud," that has proven itself to working as a celebration of the role of Fathers as the film does indeed house an urgently aching dynamic between Krasinski's Father character and the deaf Regan, who are each undergoing a bruised dynamic that will play out over the course of the film in degrees that are deeply touching while keeping you biting your nails.
Now even with such praise from me, I did have some issues with the film, some of which I can (sort of) wave away but another, much ire burdensome quality, that I did feel undercut the entire success of the film as a whole. Without delving into spoilers, I will say that there were certain lapses in logic that kind of irked me, situations and plot points that felt to be more than contrived in order to solely keep the action and intensity rising. Like for instance, why would the family ever allow themselves to be separated for extremely extended periods of time? Why would Regan be allowed to wander around at night all alone? And then, if the family has to occasionally creep to a now abandoned pharmacy to keep stocked up on medications, why not stock up on contraceptives?
Yes, I can kind of let those pieces go to an extent. But, what I really did not like was the film's ending, which of course, I will not reveal here but I will say is annoyingly abrupt, leaving the film open for a sequel (which is already in development with Krasinski directing again). Basically, I felt a tad cheated. Like I sat through this entire movie only for it to not only be unfinished but to exist as just a tease for a second and potentially more movies, the way Hollywood likes to run things these days. Not every movie deserves a sequel and for a film that is pretty tightly wound, and uses its 90 minutes running time to the very best of its advantages, I just wished that the film would have possibly been a tad longer so as to fully complete the story instead of setting us up for yet another franchise. It felt disingenuous and even a little cheap, which is a shame as it already had so much good going for it.
Even with those criticisms, I cannot begin to try and turn you away from John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place," an extremely taut, gripping, relentless and refreshingly original thriller from the end of the world that again proves what a gift the movies can be these days when filmmakers are allowed to truly invent rather than remake, re-create and re-imagine.
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