A Quiet Place (2018)

If A Quiet Place has taught me anything, it is the importance of good sound design.

This is a highly effective horror film for a lot of reasons, but the way it uses sound to its advantage creates such a tense atmosphere that I won’t be forgetting soon. It is almost entirely silent with few portions of spoken dialogue. The production team tried to make very little noise so that every on-camera sound could be amplified in post-production, and it paid off. Because the suddenly loud noises are so loud and because we know that the creatures in the film are only attracted by these kinds of sudden noises, every time those sounds occur the tension instantly goes up. It is a perfect setup for a lot of good jump scares, but it also lends itself to the character development. One of the children of the family focused on is deaf, and when the film is from her perspective all the on-set sound goes away, giving us some very suspenseful and even emotional moments.

In fact, A Quiet Place has a lot of these dramatic moments that propel the family angle of the plot. At times, the film feels more like a drama about parents protecting their family than a horror film, and that makes these characters feel so much deeper – even without hearing their voices for half of the film. The sign language allows the actors’ performances to flesh out their characters’ motivations all the more, with John Krasinski’s family patriarch having shorter, less fluid motion and Emily Blunt’s mother having more affectionate and gentle movements. All the performances, including the child actors, are very good and allow the characters’ depth to emerge as the film goes on.

Outside of his performance, Krasinski proves his worth as a director and a writer. He had a vision for this film and the way he wanted to build tension, and it shows. The pacing is of particular note with its gradual crescendo up to a gut-wrenching and heart-pounding finale that brings the film’s two strands of family drama and horror crashing together in just a few swift scenes. The one slight criticism I have of Krasinski’s direction is that this is a more conventional horror film; virtually every scare is a jump scare which, while it is fitting with the film’s concept, did result in some of those moments being less effective later in the film’s runtime. That’s not to say that A Quiet Place isn’t frightening or that they are bad scares in the first place – there’s just a lot of them. At least there are no unnecessarily false jump scares, as that would have evaporated all the terror right out of thin air.

Within the scope of a traditional horror film though, this stands above most. A Quiet Place uses every facet of its concept to the greatest degree possible, resulting in a terrifyingly good filmgoing experience. Almost all of this starts with the excellent sound mixing – something I am sure will be recognized come next awards season – but the film’s emotional heart also pays dividends, making the audience feel the pain and terror of the characters even more.

My recommendation: Definitely see this in a theater.

My grade: 87/100