Running time: 90 minutes (1 hr 30 min)
Director: John Krasinski
Writers: Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, and John Krasinski
Cast: Emily Blunt (Evelyn Abbott), John Krasinski (Lee Abbott), Millicent Simmonds (Regan Abbott), and Noah Jupe (Marcus Abbott).
Score: 4.1/5
John Krasinski is known more for comedy than horror, so when I read that he was acting in and directing A Quiet Place, I wasn’t too impressed. I feel that the same person should not be on both sides of the camera, and that the magic of production comes from the synergies of diverse teammates. To my surprise, A Quiet Place was incredibly well executed (given its premise)! There were some inconsistencies, but overall it was quite a terrifying watch.
A Quiet Place is a science fiction horror movie. Alien creatures have arrived on Earth, vicious predators that are blind but have an acute sense of hearing. To survive, humans must stay as quiet as possible – any sound will draw the attention of the predators, who are nigh unstoppable once they are unleashed. The film revolves around a family who struggles to survive in this new world.
The silence – or rather, the sound design of the film – is terrifying. A Quiet Place is an example of how powerful sound design can be for storytelling. It’s not that the film is quiet – it’s not. It’s that every little sound is magnified, and the blatant lack of dialogue adds to the sheer mystique and horror of the whole thing. You know that the monsters are attracted by sound, so you root for the heroes to keep as quiet as possible. But that means that whatever audio you hear is all the more significant. And since there’s no dialogue, the lack of communication amplifies the fact that the unknown is out there, adding to the sheer scariness of the film.
This means that all that setups for potential loud noises can be agonisingly frightful to sit through. For an example, the film reveals that a nail in the floor has accidentally been pried loose, and is just waiting for someone to step on it. The characters in the film don’t wear shoes (presumably so that they will make less noise), so they spend most of it going around barefoot – meaning that you’re left wondering when someone will step on it, how painful it must be since their feet are unprotected, and the tremendous willpower needed to stay silent in such circumstances. You’re constantly waiting for them to avoid such “sound booby traps”, and it ramps up the tension that much more.
It helps that John Krasinski and Emily Blunt deliver excellent performances as Lee and Evelyn Abbott, respectively. As mentioned earlier, the lack of dialogue means that you have to scrutinise their facial expressions to decipher what they’re thinking. They do use sign language and mouth what they are trying to say, but the communication is spotty at best. What really sells the horror of sound is their expressions whenever there is something loud. The look of pure, unadulterated terror on their faces conveys the danger that they face. And when you see how swiftly the monsters move and how painfully they kill, you understand why.
Their onscreen son, Marcus (Noah Jupe), is also as deft as his onscreen parents in conveying the everpresent fear that they live in. Unfortunately, their onscreen daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) is quite the opposite. The character is, for lack of a better word, irritating. While Regan spends most of her time on screen feeling guilty about her actions in Act One, the problem is that it really was her idiocy that led to a tragedy in the first part of the film. So I can’t quite sympathise with her, even though from a story perspective, I get why she’s portrayed the way she is.
The exact sound level that can trigger the creatures is also rather inconsistent. Perhaps its because the sound design increases the audio levels of everyday sounds, so it seems like they’re louder than they really are. But to me, things like running tap water could be louder than a whisper – which raises the question of why such sounds don’t attract the creatures? Why don’t the characters whisper, anyway? Wouldn’t that solve many communication problems?
I regret not catching A Quiet Place when it came out in 2018, but better late than never. It’s an interesting concept that’s executed well as a horror movie, and the first half was nearly unbearable to watch, what with all the tension you feel. I’m looking forward to A Quiet Place Part II, although I guess they’d be able to talk a bit more in the sequel thanks to the events of this film.
A Quiet Place came out in Singapore on 5 April, 2018.
Interested in sound design? Here’s another film that had great sound design.
This is an original article on marcusgohmarcusgoh.com.
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I’m an independent scriptwriter who’s written for popular shows like Lion Mums, Crimewatch, Police & Thief, and Incredible Tales. I’m also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find me on social media as Optimarcus and on my site.
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