Cast – Cade Woodward, Doris McCarthy, Emily Blunt, Evangelina Cavoli, Ezekiel Cavoli, John Krasinski, Leon Russom, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe

Director – John Krasinski

Genre – Drama/Thriller film

Running Time – 1h 35m

Anyway, enough of all that. Let’s get to the point. Currently sitting on a very impressive score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes amongst critics, A Quiet Place is described as artfully playing on elemental fears with a ruthlessly intelligent creature feature that’s as original as it is scary — and establishes director John Krasinski as a rising talent. That is just a piece of the high praise the movie has been getting and that’s part of the reason why I decided to check it out. So, is it worth all this hype?

The Plot

A Quiet Place is a 2018 American horror film directed by John Krasinski, who also stars in the film with Emily Blunt, his wife in real life. The screenplay was written by Krasinski, Bryan Woods, and Scott Beck based on a story by Woods and Beck. The plot follows a family of four who must live life in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

The plot is simple and intriguing which makes it an easier watch from a contextual point of view. This however doesn’t mean that you won’t find yourself on the edge of your seat whilst watching. Despite its lack of spoken word, for most parts of the movie, it does a great job of using other elements designed to play with your emotions and make sure you are not bored whilst watching. I was especially impressed by this, I mean how can a movie that barely has any sort of spoken word and is quiet keep you interested and in suspense? The answer to this is the clever use of musical effects and the narrative all designed to keep you watching.

A good friend of mine explained it as being one of the most creative uses of sound in a horror/thriller in a while…and I couldn’t agree more. In addition, the evident chemistry between Emily Blunt and John Krasinski as they should, considering their real life story, plays a crucial role in the whole movie and what it is. Both, together with their onscreen children (Regan and Marcus played by Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe respectively) do a great job of bringing what could have been a very dull movie to life.  

It may not be for everyone, but A Quiet Place is worth a watch. It has some scary, disturbing and gruesome moments but strangely that’s part of its charm. A brilliant concept driven by the clever use of sound and the quality of acting, the movie is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. With barely no spoken word and the use of sign language as a form of communication, you are either not going to like this one or you are (like I did). A Quiet Place gets a solid 7 out of 10 rating from me. Like I said its worth a watch.

Shout out to Ster Kinekor for the screening and doing so in Cine Prestige style, classy as always!