A Quiet Place

Make all of the "Jim, from The Office" jokes you want, but John Krasinski is here to kick your a**. 

In recent months, the trailer(s) for A Quiet Place have really taken each of my many audiences' breaths away. They're particularly fun on busy release nights where you can hear the buzz once the trailer is over of "Honey, we should see that!" and "Oh my gosh that looks intense!". 

That trailers are one thing, but the film itself is an entirely different ball game and likely one of the more intense experiences you're set to have at the movies this year. 

If you dare. 

The premise for the film is surprisingly simple, but when you think about it in terms of a film it begins to get harder and harder to pull off. Aliens have invaded earth and hunt through sound. Wisely, we're only told of this past horror through newspaper clippings hanging on a wall and they provide enough detail to set us up for why this world exists. Coincidentally, they also shook me more than intended with their headlines. Seeing a huge front cover of USA TODAY screaming "Stay Quiet! Stay Alive!" made me go down a minor, but horrifying rabbit hole wondering if newspapers/news outlets would really try to still circulate life saving messages in the wake of a pending end-of-the-world scenario? Regardless, A Quiet Place is purely about the survival of this family as they go about their lives many months after the world's collapse. 

The opening of the film is an indicator of what's to come and it's one of the stronger openings I've seen in a time. Little details point out the absence of sound and the avoidance of making it and there are some small intensities without any creatures around. I certainly won't ruin any outcome, but once "A Quiet Place" brushes against the screen you'll likely be releasing your abdominal muscles and wondering if you can take 80 more minutes of this. The answer is you can, and you should. Like all great things, eventually you can have "too much" of it. A Quiet Place never gets to that point thanks to a wise short-and-sweet runtime, but you can tell by the end that things start to feel a little samey and as a result, the intensity is dialed down a tad. Again, the film knows what's good for it and pulls out while it's still ahead which is honestly the downfall for many, many horror films that lose their grip on you. 

"If you don't shut up, Dwight will hear you and he will kill you."

When you know Dwight Schrute is hunting you

Aside from the fact that I have no idea why this couple would want to bring a baby into this world (especially so soon after the world went to hell), A Quiet Place is interestingly smart. I say "interesting" because there are fun moments where you observe the strategies they've taken to avoid noise and sound. Something as simple as cloth play pieces for a board game or perhaps more elaborate like a different color of lights outside when there's danger. The film is full of these little tactics that make you interested and invested in our characters, but in certain moments can also add intensity to the film. A lot of this rolls up to Krasinski's fantastic debut direction. He's got a specific eye for how to move characters around a board and the film, outside of its gripping premise, is damn well-made. On the other side of the camera, he and his real-life-wife, Emily Blunt, are the film's anchors with a cast of strong children actors. It's only odd for the slightest of moments seeing Jim -- er -- John be a serious character, but his intensity radiates from the screen and Blunt, as usual, is near perfection. She has arguably the film's most intense scenes and does, in all honesty, some awards-worthy work. 

It has a lot less "gotcha!" moments than you'd anticipate, and ratchets up the intensity in certain parts to places where your stomach is likely having indigestion. Aside from a small lull after the intro -- that's still very well done and interesting to the viewer -- the film brings back our monsters and doesn't let off the gas. While things end up about as you'd expect them to, there's no denying that the journey wasn't thrilling. It's also worth mentioning that, for a film all about being quiet, the sounds of it are incredibly well done. Sound editing is made to magnify even the simplest of sounds and really comes into play during transitions from quiet to "oh, s**t we just made noise" scenes. Also, happily, we're treated to probably the best original score of the year thus far. It adds a tremendous amount to the film and offers the poignant moments that set this film apart from other horror movies. 

"I can see you Dwight, you bastard."

A Quiet Place is one of those rare delights, especially in the horror genre, that ends up being just as good as you were probably hoping. If not better. I particularly love these intense "horror" films because they're gripping adventures and practices in stress management. Oh, and they're good movies. That too...

CONS

• "Why are they having a baby?" and a handful of other unwise character decisions
• Near the very end, it begins repeating itself

PROS

• Impressive direction from Krasinski, particularly when it comes to sustaining tension
• An utterly fantastic intro scene
• Short and sweet. Where other films would have featured a lot of exposition and backstory, A Quiet Place quietly (pun intended) shows you how we got here and leaves certain elements up to you to figure it out
• Acts as a peak (starts intense), minor, but interesting lull (rest), then peak-to-plateau (remains intense). It's a thrill ride that rarely lets up. It'll exhaust you
• Krasinski can do "intense" well and Blunt is on a whole other level
• Smart and fun to see the tactics this family uses to stay quiet
• Perhaps ironically, the sound editing is on point
• The alien monsters are legitimately terrifying. Awesome monster design
• Superb original score. Best of the year so far
• A film that knows exactly when to quit and is all the better and more intense for it

Rath's Review Score | 9.5/10