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.
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