A Quiet Place (2018): ‘A Quiet Family’ – A Film Review

Introduction

Every once in a while a film can sneak under your radar and this tends to be the case with many of the more original films. Directed by and starring John Krasinski, who also has a writing credit, and based upon a script by Bryan Woods and Scott Beck; A Quiet Place is a horror film centred around silence. With many contemporary horror films there has been a relative decline in quality but it feels that we’re starting to see more coming through. The ability to unsettle and scare audiences lends itself to a more creative side of filmmaking and it’s disappointing that a lot of horrors feel so formulaic and bland. However this does seem to be changing this year with the likes of the experiments within Unsane and now, with a new approach to minimal dialogue, we have A Quiet Place.

How Quiet?

The use of silence becomes a part of the film both thematically and technically as very little dialogue is used throughout the film. This creates a greater sense of tension as the knowledge of what could happen, if a noise is made, creates a heightened sense of what is happening around the characters. As if you’re always being watched and the chance of death round the corner being ever present. What also gives a sense of the films unforgiving brutality is the way it treats early deaths in the film. Unexpected and harsh, it creates sympathy and gives a sense of the doom the characters feel. Furthermore the sound design allows to pick out subjectively each characters experiences quickly to give a sense of a point of view sound as need be. Heightening engagement and expanding the atmosphere even further.

A Family Struggle

One must take the premise as given, as the story really is centred on the family and their struggles and not necessarily the threat to humanity. The monsters are forever looming and certainly affect the story, but feel almost side-line to a family finding ways to survive amongst them and therefore helping each other. This must be remembered before the more supernatural (or alien) elements are brought into question. Certainly moments of generic world building, relying on newspaper clips and basic notes on the walls to explain character motivation and research, feels both basic and a knit pick in light of the rest of the film. As above all, the film is superbly acted and the family unit could not be that much more well defined and explored. It is the central power to the film.

Conclusion

A Quiet Place isn’t completely flawless, especially as the earlier generic jump scares hit, but it perfectly explores a great possibility in horror. Silence, tension and the unknown through experimenting with film itself. Certainly its effect on audiences will be powerful as you suddenly hear, in a room full of people, a pin drop (or the rustle of a popcorn bag). Making for a truly interesting experience on film. SPOILERS: Opinions divided, as the ending closes, either pulling its final punch and robbing us off its climax; or perfectly hinting to a relief not needed to be shown. This will likely draw a line between people, it certainly did for us. END OF SPOILERS.

Synopsis

Abandoned and alone, a family tries to survive in a world, where blind monsters sensitive to hearing hunt people down.

Ratings

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A Note on My Reviews

Please read ‘On Reviews‘ for a guide to how I write film reviews. Any spoilers are appropriately marked and, though I personally prefer to know little about a film before seeing it, there is a synopsis below the review for any who wish to see one.

Films Mentioned

A Quiet Place (d. John Krasinski USA 2018)

Unsane (d. Steven Soderbergh USA 2018)

A Quiet Place (2018): ‘A Quiet Family’ – A Film Review

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