Starring Emily Blunt and her husband John Krasinski (Jim Halpert), directed by Krasinski (not his first directed movie, but the first you’ve heard of)
Venue: half full theater with people who thankfully stayed quiet the whole time.
Vague thoughts: My official stance and true belief is that every movie should be seen in theater if possible (except maybe Unfriended, which works well on a laptop). Whenever someone asks if it’s worth seeing a movie in theater, I don’t know what to tell them, because obviously it is going to be better in theater. Movies are made to be seen in theater. The theater holds your attention, as there are less things to draw you away from the screen, and you can’t choose to pause. Even comedies are better in crowds, despite being less “cinematic” than dramas and action. That said, if you want to see A Quiet Place, and if you like horror at all you should want to see it, definitely make an effort to see it in theater. The movie strongly relies on visual storytelling, uses silence to build tension, and you’ll want to use your full attention to get the most out of the story. I know, I know, you have a great TV at home and your soundbar is top of the line (no it isn’t). But even with people inexplicably eating nachos and the occasional cough, 99% of you are going to be way more distracted at home. You’ll end up checking your phone (“I had to know if that was the guy from the Office” It’s obviously the guy from the office; he has a beard, not a nose prosthetic). You’ll pause to ask a question (it’ll get answered in the movie, or it’s not as important as you think). The movie is 90 minutes long, you’ll be fine. And it’ll be 100x better of an experience.
Anyway, the movie is quite good. I’m not a huge horror guy, but the movie is very well made. I was super stressed out the entire time. It has a pretty novel premise and explores the difficulties of the world in engaging ways. Emily Blunt is good in everything, and my new favorite child actor Noah Jupe (from the very good Wonder) has another good role. Krasinski won’t blow anyone away with his acting chops, but I’ll definitely see his next couple movies based on my appreciation of A Quiet Place.
Spoiler-y stuff: Man this movie does some dark stuff I wasn’t expecting. I couldn’t believe that it started with a child being (presumably) eaten alive. The opening scenes nailed it in setting up the dangers of the world and set the stakes high for the rest of the movie. This is a movie about a family, so normally I’d assume only the parents are at risk, and the kids will just be plot bait without ever truly being in danger. After that first death, I knew this could end up being Shakespearean. Will any of them survive this movie? It made the later deaths and close calls have true weight. Possibly darker, the plan for taking care of their new baby was to keep it in a padded coffin hidden in a secret basement. Holy crap. Was that baby going to spend it’s first two years of life living in a tiny box with an oxygen mask on? Don’t get me wrong, that was probably the only realistic plan, but it was wild to see on screen. The obvious answer is ‘don’t have a baby in world where you can’t make noise’ but what are you going to do, let the human race die out?
One good thing: As a former ASL student, I liked seeing sign language and a deaf character (and actor) used organically. It’s easy (and lame) to nitpick movies like this, but having a family that already knows sign language makes it a lot more believable that they’d all survive this long in silence.
One bad thing: The movie is actually a little too short. I could have used a bit more near the end. It ends a little too abruptly. Only a small complaint, though.
Should you care? Definitely. Horror is in a bit of a renaissance right now, and this is a worthy entry. And who knows, John Krasinski might end up being a consistently great director
82/100 very good movie
Greg Watched That 