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MOVIE: A Quiet Place

STARRING: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds RATING: M REVIEWER: Vicky Roach 4/5

A QUIET Place is not popcorn horror. Seriously. Snacks should be banned from this nerve-jangling twist on an alien apocalypse in which barely a line of dialogue is spoken.

For a good part of the film’s 90-minute duration, the cinema is deathly silent – and I use the descriptive adjective advisedly.

And actor-turned-director John Krasinski’s riveting thriller needs no added tension.

A Quiet Place tells the story of a family under siege.

Evelyn and Lee Abbott (played by Krasinski and real-life wife Emily Blunt) live in complete silence in a modified country shed with their two children: Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus (Noah Jupe).

It’s a survivalist’s existence – equal parts love, industry and fear.

The Abbotts communicate in sign language – a skill they already possess thanks to Regan, who has a malfunctioning cochlear implant.

Her deafness in a world in which sound is paramount is a clever plot device that pays off on a multitude of levels. As does the elemental nature of parental anxiety.

In the crash-bang-pow Dolby ATMOS environment of mainstream entertainment, A Quiet Place takes the less-is-more approach to inspired extremes.

Our auditory deprivation is alleviated only by the occasional reprieve – a silent disco, a crashing waterfall.

Krasinski directs with the precision of a master craftsman – there are flaws in the logic of the world he and co-writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have created, but they barely register. And the film’s ending is an absolute cracker.