A Quiet Place Review
The sound of silence is given new meaning in John Krasinski’s nerve-shredding sci-fi thriller. The story of a family seeking to evade a mysterious alien species is suffocating and tense in its sharp 80 minute running time. The unrelenting pressure is built from a single-minded and innovative concept that is followed through with religious intent. Attracted by anything that makes a sound, these extraterrestrials prey on the most instinctive aspect of being human. Communication. If you are heard, you are hunted.
A creature feature built upon the foundations of a tender family drama. It plays and toys with the senses while emotionally captivating beyond the scares. Krasinski paints a portrait of parenthood through the lens of an impending apocalypse. It will make any parent gasp and shudder throughout but will also put up a mirror to that instinctive desire to protect and nurture as wife tells husband “Who are we if we can’t protect them?” It joins the likes of It Comes at NIght (2017) in recounting a nuclear family’s journey amidst an apocalypse. There’s no doubt that the Trumpian world of impending nuclear warfare contributes to the cultural fascination with dystopia. Krasinski zones in on the process and method of survival rather than diving into the mythos of the invasion. For the rational and plot hungry, the lack of background information may infuriate.
Following a family tragedy, Lee and Evelyn Abbott (Krasinski and Emily Blunt) and their two young children, Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Regan (Millicent Simmonds), have hidden away in an isolated cabin surrounded by forests and cornfields. The emotional hammer blows strike even harder as it feels so remarkably like a genuine family with its quibbles, teen rebellion and unspoken truths. The fact that Blunt and Krasinski are a real married couple has no doubt played a big role in this. There is real care given to building characters that are multifaceted and aren’t faceless mules waiting for the slaughter.
Despite the problematic baby sequence; the fears of parenthood and raising children in a hostile and unpredictable world are encapsulated here quite brilliantly. It asks intelligent questions and thrusts one into a position of reflection. What would you do? How far would you go to protect and preserve in light of such atrocities? The irony of the conclusion is not lost as A Quiet Place roars in silence.