If you ask anyone who has seen an inordinate amount of movies, odds are you'll find that they're a fairly tough critic. Mind you, that isn't a guarantee; but from my experience, it's usually the case. I'll tell you why. After you've seen enough movies, you start becoming aware of tactics and tropes used in just about any movie, and you become increasingly difficult to surprise. This is particularly the case with horror movies, because, in all honesty, there's only so much that they can do. A (sometimes successful) dramatic score, jump-scares here and there, a monster or demon of some kind, characters deemed to stupidity, and a plot that's usually nonsense. Granted, many horror movies have achieved an astonishing amount of success from this recipe; yet new tactics are quite rare. Which is precisely why, against all odds, A Quiet Place ventured into new territory. Indeed, it surprised me.
The script is usually one of my favorite things to write about; which, in this case, is a problem. Because--well--there is no script. Actually, I suppose that's not entirely true; there are a couple lines of verbal dialogue along with some sign language, but it's called A Quiet Place for a reason. That may sound like criticism, but it turned out to be brilliant. I take issue with a lot of scripts because so many of them have spoon-fed exposition, indicating the creators think that viewers can't figure anything out for themselves. And you know what? In many cases, they're exactly right. That, or they're just lazy. However, the plot is almost entirely left to visuals, which is proved to be intelligent and exciting. Very little information is given; and, in this case, works out for the better.
I've never had an issue with Emily Blunt or John Krasinski, but I had no idea they were capable of this. Their ability to act solely from facial expressions and body language is incredibly impressive. Their emotions and thoughts were displayed so effectively that I imagine any verbal communication would have taken away from the movie's intensity. Additionally, the child-actors were excellent. Casting children can be risky, as they usually either make (a la The Shining) or break (a la War of the Worlds) a movie. In the case of A Quiet Place, however, they were important, entertaining, surprisingly impressive, and (thankfully) not annoying. Furthermore, I can't help but think that any children in their situation would behave similarly. For being an apocalyptic horror/suspense movie, it was all surprisingly realistic (under said parameters).
Here's something I didn't expect to write about. A Quiet Place is, as you know, PG-13. Now, my firm opinion is that PG-13 horror/suspense movies are generally--well--trash. Maybe that's part of the reason A Quiet Place is so impressive. However, in retrospect, it was outrageously intense and somewhat violent from time-to-time, but it wasn't graphic. And, to be honest, I'm not sure whether that's a good thing. I genuinely can't decide if I wished that it had been more violent, or if giving it an R-rating would have taken away from the intelligence, thus turning it into Saw-like hokum. I'll let you decide.
Let's talk about the definition of "scary" for a minute. Fear essentially boils down to two basic elements: The unknown and the frightening. In other words, people get scared because they either don't know what is going to happen, or they're scared by what they're actively seeing. I think that's where horror meets suspense--the fine line between being scared about what's going to happen and what is actively happening. So, if you were to ask me if A Quiet Place is scary, my answer would be, "Well, it depends." It does have frightening, creative, and very intelligent creatures, but they're not so scary that they'll keep you up at night. However, the true fear that it ensues stems from the unbelievable levels of suspense within it.
The premise boils down to a family avoiding incredibly fast, relentless, intelligent, and nearly indestructible creatures with supersonic hearing. Hence, probably 90% of the movie is utterly silent (disregarding the non-diegetic sound). Naturally, vigorous tension is insinuated from the disastrous consequences of making even the slightest sound. You know a movie is impressive when a loose nail and a toy rocket ship are as invigorating as actively seeing the creatures.
I will say that there was a moment in the movie that I thought was going to cause parallelism between two events, which it only kind of did. It did set up a climactic moment beautifully executed by Krasinski, but the foreshadowing wasn't as direct as I had hoped. Granted, maybe that's a good thing, because the ending would have been a real downer if I had been right.
I don't care if you hate horror movies; I don't even care if you don't like movies (you heathen). A Quiet Place demands to be seen, and I can almost guarantee you haven't seen anything so brilliantly simple and impressive. Who knew Jim from The Office could be so innovative? After A Quiet Place, I can give nothing but a long exhale, the tip of my hat, and a 95% rating.
Theater Worthy
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