"Who are we, if we can't Protect Them?" A Quiet Place Review

A Quiet Place

3.5/5

Directed by: John Krasinski

Rated: PG-13

           Earth's inhabitants live in distress and suffer in silence. Any sound could be their death. Walk on the quiet paths. Stay inside at night. Make no unnecessary noise. Death strikes upon the slightest mistake. It cannot be reasoned with. It cannot be avoided. Death inhabits the Earth. No one is safe, which is why the living must be diligent. No where on Earth is this shown stronger than amongst a humble penitent family built from father, mother, daughter and sons. They reside on a quiet farm going about their daily lives; teaching at home, preparing their own food and gathering together for prayer and a meal. This seems to be their life, until disaster strikes. In this perilous time, how can humanity survive?
           A Quiet Place stars John Krasinski as the loving father of this family. Through a charismatic and well crafted performance, Krasinski illustrates this father's deep love for his wife and all of his children. Emily Blunt is Krasinski's beautiful wife. Her character's nurturing spirit and gentle comfort shines through in her performance, and is clearly shown as one of the few strings holding this family together. Not only do these adult performers do an excellent job, but so do all of the child performers. Millicent Simmonds is exceptional as Krasinski and Blunt's oldest daughter. She fully commits to her role and lives in every single moment. Noah Jupe plays the role of this family's oldest son, a timid yet willing boy whose desire to help is only choked out by fear. Cade Woodard plays the youngest son, a wide eyed child with a vivid imagination and a cheery disposition.
          This family comprised of supreme realistic performances resides in a world frightfully foreign and yet surprisingly similar to our own. The depth in the creation of A Quiet Place's setting is staggering. Every aspect of life on Earth without sound has been carefully crafted and intelligently thought out. From the way that families have to walk on paths of sand, to communicating only through sign language, Morse code or the local newspaper, to playing board games using felt pieces, every aspect of this film's setting is meticulously designed and believably inhabitable. It almost seems like someone could live there, until one screech reminds audiences why this family must remain quiet. Watching this family cling onto life no matter how horrible the world becomes is captivating, and seeing the extents they take to survive one more night is endearing.
           Though this film offers an impactful experience, one that may evoke fear and joy, A Quiet Place's narrative appears to be in conflict with itself. There is a thread in this film spun of love greater than fear, lives laid down for family, and the faith that one's father will always protect his children. This thread, however, is snipped on a few ends and lashed back together with rope made of courage overcoming darkness, salvation through humanity and strength in oneself. If this mangled through line is perceived, then audience members will see this film's drastic changes, abrupt moments and contradicting character portrayals. The way in which these two lines are forced together makes it difficult for audiences to ignore one and keep the other. Perhaps A Quiet Place's most frightful aspect is not this film's intelligent use of scare tactics, but how this film asks its participants, "What do you believe saves humanity? Which of my through lines do you prefer?"

Verdict: Although A Quiet Place's conflicting narrative will polarize audiences, its well developed world and supreme performances from the entire cast will satisfy thrill seeking audiences.

"Who you are to the World is pretty Terrifying" Love, Simon Review

Love, Simon

2.5/5

Directed by: Greg Berlanti

Rated: PG-13

           Simon is a boy just like most. He attends high school, he has a dad, a mom and a sister that he actually likes. He's got a group of friends that he hangs out with, and gets iced coffee with every Saturday. Yea, Simon is a boy like most, except he has a big secret...he's gay. He hasn't told anyone, yet, and he's not sure how. He would have kept it a secret until college, if he had not seen an anonymous post on his neighborhood's message board. Someone else in Creekwood is secretly gay. Through anonymous emails, Simon and the mysterious "Blue" form a relationship across digital space. Though things are going well for Simon, he worries about what would happen if people knew his secret? What would happen if Simon's emails were leaked?
          Love, Simon's story about people, secrets and the relationships between them is primarily character driven. These characters, however, are illustrated as personas that are defined by their beliefs, hobbies, friends and love lives. Nick Robinson plays Simon in an emotionally distant yet humanely resonant performance. Katherine Langford's portrayal of Simon's best friend, Leah, is not as convincing as Robinson's. Jorge Lendeborg Jr. is little more than likeable as Simon's other friend, Nick. Alexandra Shipp offers a well constructed and amusing performance as Abby. Far more curious than any of these actors and actresses is Logan Miller's enigmatic performance as Simon's high-handed "friend," Martin. Some audiences will find Miller's performance obnoxious and overbearing, while others may see him as a misunderstood and endearing character. Though Love, Simon's cast does an alright job telling this story, there are no stand out or exceptionally noteworthy performances.
           A movie's characters, however, could do nothing if they had no setting, and Greg Berlanti's Love, Simon features an interesting depiction of one of this move's settings. Love, Simon has digital space scenes, where one piece of gossip, a message over social media or a secret love email fills the movie screen and places audiences in the characters' mindsets. The way this movie presents the typing of emails and the scrolling through of message boards accurately matches the look and feeling someone may get when they look at their phone or computer screen. It is curious that this same level of well crafted direction does not flow throughout this movie. Love, Simon's visual appeal, aside from some character telling costumes, is not above average. Though the soundtrack's integration into these settings is sometimes smart it is usually ineffective. Some audience members may want to scream, if they have to hear one more "Bleachers" song.
           Though most audiences do not care if Love, Simon is technically outstanding, most audiences will want to see if Love, Simon is a true story with a meaningful message and heart. The good news is audience members will be able to relate to Simon's story, through connection with his coming out story or with his feeling of always being on the outside. Love, Simon is a movie that says, "It is alright to be yourself," but Love, Simon gets stuck on defining oneself through others. Each persona in Love, Simon is primarily identified by their friends and relationships. These characters could not exist separate from each other, which seems to make Love, Simon's actual message be, "It is alright to be yourself, as long as people like you." There is a character in this movie who has no friends, acquires friends and then by the end has no friends. He is the antagonist. Though Love, Simon is primarily about the importance of reaching out and finding someone, the movie overlooks what can happen if you reach out and still make no connections.

Verdict: Love, Simon is an alright true movie, but its somewhat misguided message, character personas and unstimulating directing may only make this movie a hit amongst high-schoolers and only for about a year.