The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
The sound, the fury
Making the slightest noise could kill you in well-made horror-thriller ‘A Quiet Place’
Remaining absolutely silent long has been the key to remaining unharmed by a killer — or killer creature — in a scene in a horror film. ¶ You want to live? Then ssssshhhhhhh! ¶ In 2016, the relatively entertaining “Don’t Breathe” played with this idea with a story about three pals who attempt to rob a blind man but become trapped in his house and are hunted by him. ¶ The well-executed new horror-thriller-drama “A Quiet Place” — which could be considered a cross between “Don’t Breathe” and M. Night Shyamalan 2002 science-fiction-horror effort “Signs” — takes the concept even further with a tale involving violent creatures who cannot see you but can hear you if you make more than the slightest sound.
Starring and directed and co-written by John Kra- real-life wife, Emily Blunt — “A Quiet Place” wins sinski — who gets a really nice performance by his you over with its frightening moments and study of a family living in a uniquely terrifying situation.
“A Quiet Place” begins on what we are told is Day 89, and, based on the fact a family finds itself alone during daylight hours in a small town’s downtown, we can surmise it’s the 89th day since an event changed the course of human history.
“It’s sound!” declares the headline on the front page of a newspaper, a newspaper that likely has been there for some time.
Lee and Evelyn Abbott (Krasinski and Blunt) and their children are scavenging in a drug store, Evelyn eventually finding medicine her ill child needs.
She does this with precision, careful to not knock over any of the plastic pill bottles on a shelf.
After Lee has gathered up a few other things the family needs, he refuses his one son’s desire to take home a battery-powered space shuttle toy.
“Listen to me,” he says through American Sign Language, locking eyes with the boy. “Too loud.”
The Abbots already were fluent in ASL because their daughter, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), is deaf. You can’t help but assume that their ability to communicate silently was a factor in them surviving while so many others apparently perished due to a threat that at this point is still unclear to the viewer.
After a dramatic event that will change the family’s existence, we skip ahead to Day 472. We find the Abbots living in a carpeted barn on the same property as the farmhouse where they resided when life was normal. The children play Monopoly with felt game pieces and roll dice onto a blanketed table illuminated by a lantern while Mom and Dad attend quietly to chores.
They still make use of the creaky old house, now labeled with places to step that will generate no noise. It is in the basement that Lee has a command center, complete with video monitors linked to cameras around the property and equipment he uses to send SOS signals to the outside world. It is here he also works to create a replacement hearing aid for Regan, so far with inadequate results.
We also learn Evelyn is very pregnant. Adding a crying baby to their world seems like a very problematic situation to say the least. The couple have what they hope is a workable solution, one that appears to be very clever if far from ideal.
On Day 473, Lee insists on taking son Marcus (Noah Jupe of “Suburbicon”) out to teach him how to gather food safely in this reality. The boy is understandably terrified and pleads with his father to allow him to stay home. Regan offers to go in Marcus’ place, but Lee insists Marcus needs to learn and that she is needed to stay home and help her mother. (A tension has been growing between father and daughter, and it’s reaching a quiet simmer, if not a boil.)
On this day, these various plot elements will cook together, leading to a compellingly edge-of-your-seat stew.
The story — crafted by Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, with screenwriting credits going to them and Krasinski — is rather wellthought-out. It helps that it isn’t overly elaborate, the 90-minute film eschewing any big, game-changing plot elements half-way through its course. Instead, the writers explore this family’s dynamics in a surprisingly effective way.
And this is a big improvement over Krasinski’s feature-directing debut, 2016’s strong-cast-squandering family dramedy “The Hollars.” Here, his hand is very steady, guiding us through a tale that continually builds momentum until its climax. Sure, the occasional sequence isn’t all that you’d hope. And you can’t help but scratch your head over this very careful family leaving a bunch of rickety framed pictures hanging on a wall of their house (this never pays off, however, so that’s something). As a whole, though, “A Quiet Place” really works.
While the former star of the NBC comedy series “The Office” and more recently of the action-heavy Michael Bay film “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” (2016) does fine work on screen — Krasinski’s Lee has a steely determination about him while being a caring husband and father — it is Blunt who turns in the best performance. Given how strong her work is in films including “Edge of Tomorrow” (2015) and “Sicario” (2016), that she is captivating as a woman trying to keep her family safe is hardly surprising. Still, given her over-the-top performance of the drunk woman at the heart of 2016’s “The Girl on the Train,” this is a nice rebound for her.
Although she made an impression in last year’s enjoyable “Wonderstruck,” Simmons, who is actually deaf in real life, likely is about to impress a wider audience. Regan is a bit of a tricky role, and Simmons does some nice things with it.
There has been talk from Krasinski and others involved with “A Quiet Place” that sound can be considered a character in this film, and that’s true. We go stretches where we hear next to nothing; thus, when we do, it’s impactful, and those working on the sound engineering and editing have done fine work.
Everyone involved with creating and bringing to life the movie’s threatening creatures should take a bow, too. The monsters’ gradual reveal, their design, their movements — all topnotch. And scary as heck. “A Quiet Place” succeeds in convincing you there may not be a happy ending in store for the Abbots — or even a 484th day. And that is effective storytelling.
This is a movie that walks softly but carries a very big stick.