A Quiet Place

This is a little movie with good suspense and moments of sheer freight. The movie is about a family that must silence all sources of noise to survive. There are monsters who attack upon hearing sounds. To quash noise the family walk in bare feet on sand, they eat their meals on leaves using their hands and play monopoly using crocheted pieces. They use sign language to speak. The monsters are hideous with huge ear canals and are mindless eating machines.

The family lives on a farm. The father is played by John Krasinski, who also directed the film. Emily Blunt plays his wife and they have three kids. They live in a state of pervasive fear.  Every motion has to be though out as life or death situation. This is especially hard with kids who unwittingly are prone to noise. One of those kids Millicent Simmonds, who is actually deaf, gives an outstanding performance. The entire cast is great. Emily Blunt has some tense scenes that will make you cringe.

My knowledge of directing is limited but I think Krasinski has done a fine job for his maiden outing.

The films has some plot holes. Where did the creates come from, where is everybody, how are corn fields still well tended, who keeps the electricity going? With a modest $17m production budget the film went to the heart of the story and peripherals are left to the audience’s imagination.

This movie is a spiritual successor to the Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits. It felt more like a novella rather than a complicated script. I think Rotten Tomato was over generous giving the film a 95% (this is not the Godfather or Deer Hunter). That said the box office is to date $88m. Guess Kraninski will get more directing gigs.

At $15+ a ticket you may want to watch this On Demand. By all means, go to the movies if you wish, but keep the noise down.