Friday, April 6, 2018

A Quiet Place Review: Silence is Golden for this Dynamic Horror Film

The realm of horror can be an interesting one. The movie genre is home to a number of concepts that tend to thrill, and even chill,l audiences. However, with such a variety at its midst, it can be difficult to bring something new to the likes of horror movies. Yet the latest horror film, A Quiet Place, could very well challenge this issue. Directed by John Kransinski A Quiet Place takes the idea of silence and melds it with a dystopian world. The movie has been getting good buzz and that was all the more reason for me to check out this new thriller. On a cloudy Thursday evening I checked out the new horror film and I must admit that I found myself  thoroughly impressed with A Quiet Place.

A Quiet Place tells the story of family trying to survive a harsh environment where monsters prey on people through sound. The plot of A Quiet Place takes a simple idea and mixes it with a straightforward narrative; and the end result was a captivating story. The plot takes the concept of silence and captivates on the theme to create a tense tale. The plot moved fairly quickly and this ended up be a double edged sword for the film. Given the movie’s concept it did make sense for the story to have a fast pace, but this direction did prevent the plot from exploring some of its plot points. Among these ideas was the dystopian world that work as the story’s backdrop. The apocalyptic world was interesting but it had little effect on the plot as a whole to the point where the desolate world was unnecessary and it would have been mores effective for the story just to take place in a isolated location. Yet even with this issue the plot remained effective as its sense of presentation was able to create a thrilling story.


The movie featured a small cast (even by normal movie standards) but this group showed that quality trumps quantity. There were many things that made A Quiet Place’s cast effective such as the chemistry between the family. However the one thing that stood out to me was the cast’s ability to emote without the use of dialogue. Because of the movie’s concept the characters spoke to each other with the use of sign language. This sense of communication was not only unique but also showed off the actors’ ability to say so much without saying a word. This was notable in Emily Blunt’s performance as her expression were quite distinct. When it came to antagonists the film’s monsters did not feature the biggest of characteristics, but they were certainly a viable threat for the characters; and bit unique in their concept.

Sound was indeed king in the movie’s presentation as this direction remained evident in the technical elements of A Quiet Place. The movie’s use of sound was astonishing to say the least as it implemented this concept with near perfection. What was fascinating was how the movie implemented different volumes of silence. This was seen in the difference between the normal silence and the silence for the character Regan Abbot (Millicent Simmonds) whom was deaf. Another highlight for the movie was the score by Marco Beltrami. The music of A Quiet Place had a unique role to play as the compositions had to express the emotion of both the story and (to a lesser extent) the characters and it certainly exceeded in this direction. To top things off was the movie’s horror featured an atmospheric tone and jump scares that were used properly.

A Quiet Place is indeed a one of a kind horror film. The film takes its premise to its fullest as the use of silence created an experience riddled in thrills and suspense. Although some details were mute it did not take away from the movie’s dynamic presentation. Through its keen direction A Quiet Place brought a refreshing sense to the realm of horror and is without a doubt  a standout movie for the year.




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