The sound of silence
EXQUISITELY tense and terrifying, A Quiet Place proves just how good simple psychological horror can be.
When it comes to horror movies, a little bit of tension goes a long way, and the sheer level of tension in A Quiet Place just might give you a heart condition.
The film is set only a couple of years in the future, when the Earth has been invaded by an alien race that has wiped out most of humanity.
Those who survive live in isolated settlements and in near total silence. The aliens, you see, are completely blind but have excellent hearing and hunt by sound. So survival depends on being as quiet as possible, as the smallest sound can attract the attention of an angry ET.
The Abbott family have something of an advantage. The eldest daughter, Regan (Millicent Simmonds) is deaf, so the family knows sign language, which has enabled them to communicate in a world where speaking can get you killed. But mum Evelyn (Emily Blunt) is pregnant, and with her due date drawing near, the potential problems are pretty obvious.
The film stars John Krasinski as Evelyn’s husband Lee, and Krasinski also adapted the screenplay and directed (only his third time directing a feature film), so much credit is due to him for crafting such a beautifully terrifying flick.
As things escalate — and they escalate rapidly — it happens though a series of mundane events, rather than big ones. And this is crucial to the way the story builds its tension and fear. Every little thing is a matter of life and death, every movement risks noise, and even the smallest noise could end you. Watching Evelyn trying to pick up bottles of pills without making them rattle becomes a moment so packed with fear and stress it will have you on the edge of your seat.
Most of the movie is almost completely silent. The family speaks in sign, they walk on pathways padded with sand, they go everywhere barefoot. And the effect is so overpowering that you become accustomed to the silence very quickly. There are probably two scenes in which characters actually speak to each other and when they do, it sounds very strange, almost startling. In one scene involving a running river, the sound of the water seems so very loud and exciting, it is a kind of luxury to enjoy the chaotic noise of it.
By necessity, a lot of the movie is powered by jump scares. Normally I’m not a big fan of this kind of horror, since it is so often employed as a cheap tactic to shock or surprise the audience, rather than make them feel genuine fear. But in this movie, the jump scares take on a whole new level of terror, since it is precisely these unexpected sounds that could get people killed. And the jump scares mostly come in the form of unexpected small noises, rather than big ones.
They are so effective because it is not just the shock of the sound that scares you, but knowing what that noise represents. After every little noise, everyone on screen stops to hold their breath, waiting to hear the telltale noise of the aliens, waiting to see if they have been discovered. And I, too, was holding my breath and straining my ears in the silence right along with them, every time.
The aliens are beautifully designed. We rarely see them for most of the movie, and when we do it is in fleeting flashes of movement, or out-offocus creeping in the background. Keeping them so carefully obscured helps build the tension as well, and even when we do finally start getting a better look at them, their appearance is both startling and fascinating enough that, if anything, seeing them makes them creepier.
We don’t even really know why the aliens came or what their plan is. But it doesn’t particularly matter. It is the unadorned simplicity of the story that makes the whole thing work. The concept is simple and the story almost ludicrously linear, but the tension and creeping horror that is wrung out of the scenario is phenomenal.
Because of its simplicity, we are not worrying about the bells and whistles and complexities of some sprawling, convoluted plot. We are just living in the moment, hanging on every footfall and every creaking floorboard. A conspicuously placed whiteboard gives you all the background exposition you need to know.
The cast convey virtually everything without any spoken dialogue, which is a huge endorsement of their combined acting talents. Before long you will have learned their shorthand communication and will be quite in tune with them, just by watching them.
I was surprised to see Michael Bay attached as producer. This is probably the most understated thing that his name has ever been attached to. Judging by the artful use of subtlety in A Quiet Place, my guess is Bay had very little to do with the creative direction of it.
This is an incredibly effective horror movie, one built on tension and fear rather than gore and shock. I was so tightly wound by the end that I felt I needed to walk to my car in total silence. Don’t miss it.
A Quiet Place (M) is now showing at Village Cinemas. Rating: