VIDEO: Watch Tim’s review of ‘A Quiet Place’ with Zac Lashway on KARE 11 above.
“A Quiet Place” (PG-13)
Silence has never been so golden as it is in “A Quiet Place,” writer-director John Krasinski’s brilliant horror thriller that elevates the genre to a whole new level. Also starring Krasinski opposite his real-life wife Emily Blunt, the 90-minute film — almost completely void of any dialogue — is a complete nail biter from its shocking beginning until its blast of an ending.
Krasinski and Blunt star as Lee and Evelyn Abbott, a couple in the near future with an uncertain future after what appears to have been an alien attack that has decimated the population on the planet. Picking up 89 days after the perceived invasion, Lee and Evelyn and their young family are rocked to the core when an unspeakable tragedy hits them. There’s no crying out loud in pain, though, because the aliens who have invaded their world, while blind, have a hyper-sensitive sense of hearing and viciously kill their subjects when they are startled by any sudden noises. Because of that, the only way Lee, Evelyn and their young son, Marcus (Noah Jupe) can communicate is through sign language, a skill they acquired because their daughter, Regan (Millicent Simmonds) was born deaf.
Jumping ahead about nine months after the invasion, the family has taken refuge in an abandoned farmhouse, which Lee has equipped with several monitors to detect the creatures that hunt them. They’re far from completely safe from the aliens, though, as an upcoming event will present a whole new challenge for their survival: Evelyn is very pregnant and ready to give birth, and with loud cries of pain and hopefully joy in their future, it leaves the family more vulnerable than they’ve ever been with no hope to battle the creatures in sight.
In his third effort at the helm of a feature film (and he’s also directed three episodes of his ensemble comedy alma mater “The Office”), Krasinski shows incredible skill as a filmmaker, and in the unlikeliest of genres, to boot. While he’s done comedy drama before, the actor/filmmaker shows with “A Quiet Place” that he has an incredible handle on horror/suspense filmmaking, a feat made remarkable given the film only contains about three dozen lines of short dialogue in its entirety. And while most communication is done through sign language (with the aid of subtitles), it doesn’t matter whether how the words are delivered, since the film’s quiet desperation is captivating from the very first frame.
Naturally, the most shocking moments in the film come when noises are made and the creatures (which appear to be an arachnid in form, and a cross between xenomorphs from the “Alien” movies and Spider-Man’s foe Venom) attack. The great thing is, Krasinski holds off a full reveal of the creatures until the third act, which goes a long way as the film escalates in tension as we see more and more of the ghastly beings as the film moves along. Of course, the attacks mean nothing if we don’t root for the protagonists, and expressive portrayals by Blunt, Krasinski and their two young co-stars are so subtle and so engaging that you almost feel that you’re right there with them. They may not say much, but their emotions feel real.
Fresh and inventive, “A Quiet Place” is easily one of the best films of 2018 to date, and a horror thriller that has unquestionably raised the bar for what is dangerously becoming a stale genre.
Lammometer: 9 (out of 10)
AUDIO: Hear Tim’s review with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show.”
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
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