I crouch in my seat, cover my eyes, ears, and brace for the villain to suddenly appear with blaring brass section accompaniment. So, frankly, I am not fond of any movie that keeps me in fetal position the entire time.
That being said, I loved “A Quiet Place”.
From the opening scene (one for the books!) to the inciting incident (definitely one for the books) to the cathartic finale (you guessed it), John Krasinski’s masterpiece keeps its audience absolutely engaged the entire time. As any good movie should, it touches its audience, but in more ways than by fright alone-though I am certain your heart will not stop working double-time throughout. The experience was surreal as my hatred of silence was completely reversed. Silence became my new favorite sound as the movie makes it the indicator that nothing bad will happen (the creatures are blind and hunt by sound alone). When it is quiet, we are safe, an incredible reversal of the common movie trick.
Being a small and contained story has its pros and cons. Wonderfully written, “A Quiet Place” only looks at what is going on with the main characters at that moment, never getting too ambitious with far-fetched backstories and wild explanations of phenomena. However, it is not lacking its share of problems. It does leave a few questions unanswered as regards to minor plot issues-like what the heck is going on in the rest of the world--but this is to be expected of most horror films. Then again, dare we call this a full-blown horror movie? I believe true fans of the genre will likely discard Krasinski’s work as not very scary. Yet, no one in their right mind can deny that it was insanely thrilling, masterfully paced, and effective in most every way it was meant to be.
Krasinski himself plays Lee Abbott, father of four, alongside his actual wife, Emily Blunt, who plays Lee’s spouse, Evelyn Abbott (yeah, it’s cute). It’s been very hard for Krasinski — and pretty much everyone else from “The Office” except Steve Carell — to break out of the perception the public has of him as a paper salesman, but both his directing and acting here make a bold statement that he can do other things besides woo the receptionist. Krasinski is stellar, but even more so is Emily Blunt. The scene that gets the plot rolling has Blunt in the lead and will no doubt be one of the most shocking scenes of the year.
We love movies that frighten us because we love feeling thrilled. We want something to scare us, but we want to know we can control it and defeat it. “A Quiet Place”, like the best horror movies, makes us feel as if we are not in control and have no hope in the thick of things. But, the problem is that in most movies we know the characters will ultimately live through any situation; our fear subsides. I spotted this safe thought running through my own mind during the movie, but it was shockingly reverted to utter dread as, in several scenes, I legitimately thought a main character was hopelessly doomed. Kudos to Krasinski for tapping into the ultimate human fear: death claiming us at any given moment.
