If you’ve only known John Krasinski from his role as the endearing everyman Jim on NBC’s The Office, then his new horror film A Quiet Place will give you a whole new perspective on his overall body of work. Released by Paramount, there were talks at one point (according to co-writers Bryan Woods and Scott Beck) to tie its plot into the Cloverfield franchise.
Given how The Cloverfield Paradox turned out when a Clover-element was inserted into a pre-existing work, I think we- the movie-going public- dodged a bullet. Everything doesn’t need to be a franchise, and here we have here a story that’s strong enough to work on its own merits.
This is a suspense thriller that values taking its time to build up the scares, and it also has a nice level of post-apocalyptic world-building combined with an affectionate family dynamic. There are no unlikable, sex-fixated protagonists to be found here, rather a group of people trying to survive in the middle of a horrible situation the best they can.
Also serving as director and a co-writer, Krasinski plays Lee Abbott, the father of a family living in a future Earth that’s been depopulated by fearsome, super-fast alien monsters. Since they lack eyes, the creatures rely on supernatural hearing ability and burst out of seemingly nowhere whenever their prey makes an audible enough sound. The Abbotts desperately try to scavenge whatever they can as they tiptoe shoeless through the wilderness, but their son Beau tragically learns this lesson the hard way when his toy rocket activates.
The film picks up a year later as the Abbotts try to get ahead with their lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Their mother Evelyn (Emily Blunt) juggles helping her husband protect their children Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus (Noah Jupe), minding the farm and preparing for the arrival of their next child. When she goes into labor, she retreats to an underground soundproof bunker as the rest of the Abbotts try to fend off the horrifying beasts.
A Quiet Place’s main strengths are its maddening tension and a strong affection for its characters. Krasinski and cinematographer Charlotte Bruss Christensen take the time to let the threats gradually build.
The story also places hints for the audience that become important later on, like how a simple nail sticking out of a wooden stair suddenly changes the course of the plot. Some nice camera angles are on display when family members peer out of their hiding spot as an alien blindly lurks around. One false move and death could come instantly.
Blunt, Krasinski and the rest of the cast don’t have much in the way of dialogue due to their circumstances, so this film relies on a good deal of physical acting and facial expression. Thanks to some great acting all around, the Abbotts come off like fully realized, sympathetic characters without needless small talk. However, a thoughtful conversation between Lee and Marcus under the audio armor of a noisy river about Regan’s guilt over Beau’s death is a notable, welcome exception.
We get only a brief glimpse of visual exposition as the camera pans across Lee’s desk, but that’s more than enough to explain everything that’s occurring in this universe, and it neatly sets up the rules for the rest of the film.
There’s just enough blood and graphic imagery in A Quiet Place to get over the intensity of the situations that its characters find themselves in. It isn’t interested in grossing the audience out as it is playing with their emotions and nerves, so it only gets gory enough for a hard PG-13. The sophistication of its execution and its sense of love are what elevates it above other films in this genre, I feel.
Though they all communicate well through sign language, it’s hard not to rally a family who can’t laugh, sing, shout or cry under fear of being eaten. A pair of earbuds become something very powerful between Lee and Evelyn as they slow dance together in the basement.
It’s one of the few relieving moments they get in this film, which is packed to the brim with fun scares on top of having a heart and a brain. Strongly recommended, and if you’ve had the chance to creep into a theater to see it, write to us at @officialFAN on Twitter and give us your opinion!