Revisiting A Quiet Place

FULL SPOILERS FOR A QUIET PLACE. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT.

As you all know the world is in a bit of a mess at the moment. I understand that saying it’s a bit of a mess is putting it extremely lightly but let’s make this blog our safe space for the next few weeks. Part of the reason I’m writing this is to distract myself from the news and the boredom that isolation brings. Being in isolation also means that there will be no trip to the cinema to review new films for the next few weeks, sorry Vin Diesel I’m not risking my life to see Bloodsport. The day I die for Vin Diesel will be the day humanity is truly doomed. Don’t fear, I’ve decided that over the next few weeks (fingers crossed) I’m going to write about older films and give you my thoughts on films that I’d never have gotten the chance to write about due to my hectic schedule. A schedule that was so hectic that I took a six-month break from writing for my blog and a two-month break from uploading weekly for other sites. First up in our series of random articles as I wait for the cinemas to become safe is a family-friendly film that will make us forget about the chaos that surrounds us. Wait, what? Did I really decide to review A Quiet Place? Let’s roll with it and see what happens.

A Quiet Place tells the story of a young family who must keep silent to hide from monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing who will murder them if they make even the slightest noise. The opening sequence of the film is a bold statement by director/lead John Krasinski who straight off the bat is out to show he’s not playing by the rule book. Opening on the 89^th day of the apocalypse we meet the Abbot family. Through their scavenge of the store, we learn everything we need to know about them without anyone saying a word. The family communicates through sign language as daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) is deaf. Evelyn Abbot the family's mother is a kind woman who will do anything to protect her children, we see this as she feeds her son Marcus (Noah Jupe) medicine to help him with the illness he suffers from. The only one who isn’t quite adapting to the situation is little Beau Abbot (Cade Woodward), who can blame him he’s only a child. Beau is determined to get a toy rocket to bring home with him, a toy he immediately drops only for Regan to catch it and brings the batteries with him even though his father Lee (John Krasinski) warned him that it’s too dangerous. The film could have cut to the title card then and there. We got to know the family and became aware of the risks of the world they’re in. As I said earlier John Krasinski isn’t playing by the rule book.

As the family walks along their sand path back from the city to their home the family doesn’t say a word, for obvious reasons. Krasinski during this sequence allows the camera to showcase the emptiness of the world around them to signal how dire things have become in the world. As the family walk across the bridge the unthinkable happens, Beau accidentally hits a button that sets his toy rocket into a viciously loud theme to the horror of everyone around him. Lee sprints as fast as he can to save his son. Surely, he’ll make it to him in time. Beau is just a kid after all. However, just as Lee is about to save his child a monster swipes him killing him instantly. The film cuts to the title card and the audience is stunned by an opening unlike any other. Krasinski kills off the youngest member of the family in the opening ten minutes of his film. A power move that hadn’t been seen since Drew Barrymore met her end in Scream. Beau’s death is a major theme for the rest of the film and a clear indicator that A Quiet Place is going to be an unpredictable film that will punch you in the gut repeatedly. Thankfully, the film carries the weight of such a strong opening for the entirety of its runtime.

A runtime that is exactly an hour and a half. Over those ninety minutes, Krasinski puts heart, scares, thrills, tears, and dense mythology into his film without it ever feeling overcrowded. What I adore about the film are the moments of safety between the characters as they offer strong emotions other than fear. A mistake that countless modern horror films continue to make is focusing purely on scaring its audience. 90% of horror films follow the same slow build-up to a jumpscare on a loop until it reaches its credits. While yes, A Quiet Place is scary, the film offers so much more than that. There are three separate scenes where Lee has a moment with each member of his family. The first being the scene where Lee and Evelyn dance together in their basement as they share a pair of headphones. The couple's tender embrace shows the reason why they are still fighting to survive, the couple wants to be a family no matter the world outside brings. The second scene that packs a mighty punch is when Lee tries to give Regan an earpiece in the hope of helping her gain hearing. Regan is past the point of giving up and refuses to take her father’s device telling him that it never works. The heartbreak on Lee’s face as he realises that his daughter may hate him is devastating. The final scene that adds layers to the movie is Lee’s trip to the river with Marcus. Up until this point in the film, Marcus has had fear on his face for the whole world to fear. Noah Jupe deserves mass plaudits for portraying the fear of a child in such an accurate manner. Lee teaches him that there is still hope in the world as he shows him how to catch a fish and tells him why he needs to be strong for his family. Each of these three moments makes you realise what a great father and husband Lee is. Without these moments his eventual death would not have made us all collectively weep. When Lee tells Regan he loves her right before he dies, we all know he means it.

On a rewatch, the scares are certainly still there. I don’t think there has been a moment in cinema thas made me squirm like the moment when Evelyn stepped on that damn nail. We all knew it was coming from the moment her potato bag pulled it upright. Krasinski waited long enough before bringing it back into play that when it does come back into play it ruins your year. As Evelyn runs down the stairs to turn the farms light red to warn her family she steps straight through the nail, Evelyn can’t scream or she’d die so we all did it for her. Emily Blunt throughout the last half of the film carries the bulk of the horror scenes. The woman goes into labour as three monsters surround her house. Trying to give birth is terrifying enough without having to do it silently. If you’ve been thinking about having kids A Quiet Place will make you permanently scared of pregnancy. Blunt is excellent as she posses all the facial expressions of a woman going physical horror. Krasinski was lucky to marry a magnificent actress who took his film to the next level.

The one part where the film falls short for me is the ending. Which in fairness annoyed me more at the time as I was certain there would be no sequel. Following Lee’s death and the arrival of the baby, the remaining members of the Abbot family are trapped in the basement as they are surrounded by one of the monsters. Just when all hope seems lost, Regan miraculously figures out what the monster's weakness is. The monsters who can hear everything weakness is loud noises. Regan holds her hearing aid up to a speaker that pitches a noise so loud the monster is stunned long enough for Evelyn to blast it to death. With this new-found knowledge, the film ends with Evelyn loading her shotgun as the Abbots await the arrival of dozens of monsters. What bugs me about the ending is that it’s the only part of the film that feels generic. What’s more badass than a shotgun pump to signal the end of your movie.  Finding a weakness also devalues the threat that your monsters possess, finding an outright weakness to them weakens them to the point where they are no longer scary. A Quiet Place up until the ending never felt like it was building to an ending that screams “We’re only getting started.”. Perhaps the sequel will make me realise that this ending was necessary, but until I see that movie I can’t get on board with it.

Despite a cagey ending, A Quiet Place is still a terrific film. Considering we’re all stuck in our homes for the foreseeable future why not put it on with someone who hasn’t seen it before. In times like these, we need to stick together and continue to live. What better way to do that than to watch one of the boldest and original movies of the past few years. I will continue to rewatch this over and over again until the day I finally get the sequel. Even if that day somehow never comes I’m more than happy to repeatedly watch this gem of a movie. Who would have thought that the guy who was made laugh for nine years on The Office would terrify us? Now if you excuse me I’m going to remove all the nails from my house.

Overall Rating: 4/5