A Quiet Place

John Krasinski’s new directorial venture A Quiet Place is a spectacularly made thriller set in an apocalyptic world. With extremely minimal dialogues Krasinski and his writers Bryan Woods and Scott Beck narrates a gripping thriller about the survival of a family. It keeps you on the edge of your seats with an intense narrative and in a way breaks the mould of the genre.

Story begins in 2020 were the earth has been taken over by predators who can’t see but can sense the sound very precisely. So the only way to survive here is to be quiet and we get to see a particular and crucial day in the life of a family who has survived these monsters till that point.

The setting of the movie itself is interesting. The couple in focus has a daughter who is deaf, they have lost one child which has complicated certain equations in the family, the wife is pregnant and the boy is still in fear. The brilliance of A Quiet Place is that it explores the possibilities of being an emotional drama, a horror thriller, a survival movie etc. through the various characters it has created. After a lot of subtle visual detailing, the film uses the younger son character to explain the “rules of the game”. The daughter here carries the element of emotional conflict and the mother is in great pain both emotionally and physically. Through brilliantly etched out scenes, Krasinski makes it a breath taking experience.

Emily Blunt was my favorite in the whole lot who was brilliant in her character. She is that caring mother who wants to make sure that her children survives and the whole scene where she struggles with labor pain was simply outstanding. John Krasinski manages to get into the skin of that character who is focused on the survival path. Millicent Simmonds was extremely good as the deaf daughter and Noah Jupe was also pretty effective as the scared young boy.

The making here from John Krasinski is so authentic that if anyone’s mobile phone rings inside the cinema hall at a vital moment, that person might get a harsh stare from everyone inside the theater. The horror here is nothing like what you have seen in the ghost films and nobody will have that space to laugh after getting scared. It’s through minimalistic yet detailed visuals Krasinski places us in the trauma of that world. Every scene has various versions of survival intentions written over it. Charlotte Bruus Christensen captures the essence of the scenes and showcases the fear to the viewer through his frames. The production design and the background score enhance the movie’s quality. And the monster in the movie was extremely creepy.

A Quiet Place is a horror thriller you shouldn’t miss. A movie with such minimalism managing to control an entire audience without a moment of hesitation was such a unique experience. This movie is truly a nail biting edge of the seat experience.

Rating: 4/5