That nail! That f*cking nail!!!
Finally. Finally! The first must-see movie of the year. I realize I’m now writing this review a MONTH after seeing it in theaters, but it should still be there, and I highly, HIGHLY recommend that you check it out.
THE BLURB:
In the modern horror thriller A QUIET PLACE, a family of four must navigate their lives in silence after mysterious creatures that hunt by sound threaten their survival. If they hear you, they hunt you.
WHAT WORKED:
Pretty much everything.
This is one of the tense-est movie theater experiences I’ve had in a long, long time. The audience, me included, were *literally* on the edge of our seats for two hours. I went into this film not knowing ANYTHING about it. I thought it was a horror movie. It’s not. It’s SciFi, post-apoclyptic, thriller, family drama. It’s directed by John Krasinski, who also stars alongside his real-life wife Emily Blunt.
It’s a simple story: survive without making noise. The crisis: the family is about to have baby.
The relationships are clear and interesting, especially the deaf daughter, which is a genius decision for a movie in which sound is so important. The sound design of the film is a character. Large portions of the movie are absolutely silent. The creatures are terrifying, fast, and loud. The world-building in terms of how this tiny group of survivors has adapted life is *excellent*, and really proves to me that you can SHOW your audience what you need them to know, you do not have to TELL them, and in fact, it’s far, far more interesting that way.
But really what makes this movie shine is the fact that it is a master-class in ratcheting up the tension and complications as the story rises to its conclusion. EVERYTHING THAT CAN GO WRONG, GOES WRONG…and that is just good storytelling. Great storytelling.
And, again…that fucking nail. You want to know what I’m talking about? Go see the movie 🙂
WHAT DIDN’T WORK:
I would say the ONE thing that was slightly “meh” was the ending of the movie. We, as the audience, figure out a major plot point before our protagonists do, and that’s a bit frustrating. It still pays off in satisfying fashion, but it was the ONE part of the movie where I was ahead of the film.
There is also a character arc that they put John Krasinski’s character on that could have been more strongly justified. I don’t mean that it was UN-justified, just that if had been executed a bit stronger earlier on, how it ends would have been more emotionally impactful.
So, there is a consensus out there on this film, of which I am happily a part of: it’s excellent. Truly excellent. That doesn’t mean *everyone* likes it…but almost everyone does. So, go see it. Prepare to watch a very scary movie with characters you really, really want to survive…and that combination, folks, is fucking magic.
9 out of 10 – a must-see