Review of A Quiet Place (2016) by Ryan H — 17 Jun 2018

Shhhhh.

(*whispering*).

As I look at horror films as thrill rides, taking the thrilling feeling to the next level, I have never seen one on the big screen. Only the smaller screens at home, and the most common result is a shrunken effect in attempt to receive more than just a couple of thrilled breaths. But when (finally) seeing one on the big screen, the effects seemingly multiplied because of a bigger atmosphere towering over you like you're trapped in the horror's shadow. But what horror tale would be worth seeing on such scale? The concept's already piqued your interest. Then the heightened popularity and in-theater experiences being shared is convincing enough to go see "A Quiet Place".

Mostly a silent film with minimal outbursts when being silent too long because in this family survival tale they must not make their presence literally heard with a slight sound or they will become prey. They are threatened by these mysterious creatures that hunts with predatory hearing and no known weakness to combat against them.

Couple of recent critically successful horror tales within a few years tackled and enlarged humanistic elements to generate actual terror that were placed in unexpected places that were elemental. I'm mostly referring to 2016's both "Lights Out" and "Don't Breathe" as the most frequent examples by thought; and "A Quiet Place" took after the latter film with conformed horror norms but with a more meaningful value that was nicely expressed and connected. This film is a definite thriller with a resonant gripping grasp over a simple element of required silence, accompanied by the importance-emphasizing value of family love and the diverse, filmic progressive communication of ASL - with subtle social commentary.

The cast is very minimal with (real-life) married couple director John Krasinski as the father figure and Emily Blunt as the mother figure, along with surprisingly actual deaf actress Millicent Simmonds as the deaf daughter and Noah Jupe ("Wonder") as the son. Their thematically connective performances altogether were terrific with perfect parent chemistry to get through the horror in tightly-handled silence while the stakes are heightening for non-stop thrills. Same weight to the younger innocent half who responds and must be guided.

Expected to be scared like a typical norm to the genre from the story itself, but it turned out to be not that scary only through the main reliance of Marco Beltrami's score's ("The Hurt Locker" and "Logan") purposeful filter of mainstream familiarity, conflicting its role with effective expression to emphasize the terrific performances and the emotional, atmospheric weight. Because of that reliance, the film went into cheap lengths to be scary by creating cheesy jump scares for pretentious terror. If the main aesthetic that masks the film is the horror element of silence, the diegetic silence would have been more authentic to provide a more realistic, true terrifying experience. Although, it's an understandable move for Krasinski's first directorial project in the horror genre with conformed impression.

After seeing this film, while it is a true horror tale consisting a dangerous situation harmed by monstrous creatures, it depends on the viewer's own definition on what is scary. The tight gripping response is a correspondence to the film being genuinely frightening but not scary enough to stir up fear when it's frightening in a thrilling kind of way. In order to really be delved into the film as it is, it's more effective in the theater like the trippy "Interstellar" - under a separate sorting - and "A Quiet Place" is a worthwhile amped cinematic experience before its widen availability with a shrunken effect. (A-).

(*heard a distant growling*).

Uh oh.