A Quiet Place - Movie Review

I love a good suspense/thriller. Hollywood seems to put out as many bad ones as good. I have been watching the trailers for A Quiet Place, which has a Cloverfield vibe for several weeks. The premise of this film captivated me from the beginning. This was definitely a film with potential. Did it reach its potential? Read on.

Lee (John Krasinski) and his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) are raising their children on a post-apocalyptic farm. An alien race has invaded earth and appear to attack based on their incredible sense of sound. The family must remain completely silent or risk falling prey, literally, to the vicious invaders. The family communicates with sign language. Their daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) is the oldest. She is also deaf. Marcus (Noah Jupe) is second oldest, but still very young. And terrified. The youngest, Beau (Cade Woodward) doesn't fully understand the world he finds himself in. A dangerous situation to say the least.

As if the rules weren't difficult enough already, Evelyn is pregnant. Lee spends his days working on a hearing aid for Regan and attempting to contact others through his advanced radio equipment. The family relationships seem strained. There is a history that seems to create a palpable tension between two family members. The family has done well scavenging, growing, canning and surviving. They have perfected homesteading, having created a complex system of communication and movement. They have even made complex plans for soundproofing the newborn they will soon welcome into their family. A quickly escalating series of events will test their ability to survive, adapt and overcome.

I'm going to answer my question about potential now. Yes, A Quiet Place reaches its potential. And possibly exceeds it. A film with no dialogue might seem gimmicky in any other format. It's not like we haven't seen exactly that this past year in the film Silence. That is a film I have not yet reviewed, but would also get high marks from me. A Quiet Place builds tension with steady pacing, intense action sequences, scary aliens and an awesome concept. I connected with the characters and found myself immersed in the film. I was completely sucked in. When a film can pull you in, it has succeeded. While not perfect, this film was fairly close.

The success had a lot to do with the casting. Krasinki was also the director, which allowed him a bit of nepotism in casting his real-world wife, Emily Blunt as his screen wife. So the chemistry was not much of a stretch, I suppose. Both were rock solid. Millicent Simmonds is deaf in real life. She was pretty solid in Wonderstruck, but I enjoyed her performance more in this film. Noah Jupe was the "best friend" in the film Wonder. I enjoyed his performance most in this film. Both he and Simmonds are likely to have a strong future in film. The casting was excellent.

A Quiet Place received a PG-13 rating from the MPAA. The film is incredibly tense. Nightmare material. There is a bit of gore, to include a couple of deaths that are not graphically shown, but are graphically heard. The film will likely cause nightmares in younger viewers. Which is probably why I enjoyed it. The film had me on the edge of my seat for most of the one hour, thirty minute run time. Heart palpitating fun.

A Quiet Place has a lot going for it. It is original, it is scary, it is intense, it has great pacing, it is well cast and it will keep you on edge the entire film. Strong casting, solid performances, interesting characters, super scary aliens and an impossible premise give this film the tension that suspense film strive for. This film fits a lot of categories, but I would call it suspense/thriller because I was nervous the entire film. Great job. 8.5/10.

Photos and trailer subject to copyright by Paramount Pictures.