A Quiet Place (2018)

• Director: John Krasinski
• With: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cade Woodward, Leon Russom
• Duration: 1h30
• Music by: Marco Beltrami
• My rating: 8,5/10
• Mid- or post-credit scene: no

Synopsis:

In a devastated Earth overrun by invincible predators of a possible extraterrestrial origin, the Abbotts are struggling to survive in the desolate urban jungle of New York City: a death trap defined by a new era of utter silence. Indeed, as noise attracts this new type of invader, even the slightest of sounds can be deadly. However, even though it’s already been twelve months since the powerful monsters’ first sightings, the resilient Abbott family still stands strong. In this muted dystopia, learning the rules of survival is crucial. And now, more than ever, the Abbotts must not make a sound.

Review:

This movie throws us right in the apocalypse, where a family had to remain extremely silent in order to survive. From that first scene we are immediately confronted with an emotional confrontation with whatever is killing of humans. And the movie’s tone is continued that way throughout.

Real life couple Krasinski (he also directed) and Blunt are husband and wife in this movie as well with three children. At the start of the film we are already at day 89 of whatever happened that urges them to be still. One of their children is Regan, a deaf girl. Because of that, the family can communicate via sign language, which ultimately saves them from what threatens them. After a devastating event (where we briefly see what is the cause of this scary time) we see them living in a farmhouse, it’s day 473 by then, and Evelyn (Blunt) is pregnant at that point, almost ready to give birth.

Of course being pregnant means a lot of danger of making noises (giving birth can be (is?) a painful thing and babies have the tendency to make noises (gurgling, crying…) so they have prepared themselves for this. But on day 373 things spiral out of control and the threat is nearer than they imagined…

This movie has a very strong premises and lives of the acting of the actors who have to live in silence… the silence is very pressing and heightens the tension. Krasinski’s acting and directing is spot on! Before we even know the real deal, we are on the edge of our seat and there are certain deaths that leave an impact!

Just like Bird Box we have a movie where people need to be careful not to do anything we normally do every day (here making sound, in Bird Box it was just seeing/looking) and with deadly repercussions. In this movie we get to see the creatures that kill (something that does not happen in the aforementioned movie) and their design is just wonderfully done! (They remind me of the creatures from Stranger Things (Demogorgon) and from Last of Us (Clickers) and also from Day of The Triffids… so you got an idea what I’m talking about!

Great movie, relying fully on the acting of four, five actors. Even though I like the soundtrack by Beltrami, I think it could have been even eerier if there was no sound(track) at all!

A Quiet Place Part II

• Director: John Krasinski
• With: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, Noah Jupe, John Krasinski, Djimon Hounsou, Scoot McNairy
• Duration: 1h37
• Music by: Marco Beltrami
• My rating: 8/10
• Mid- or post-credit scene: no

Synopsis:

With the newly acquired knowledge of the seemingly invulnerable creatures’ weakness, grief-stricken Evelyn Abbott finds herself on her own, with two young teens, a defenceless newborn son, and with no place to hide. Now, 474 days after the all-out alien attack in A Quiet Place (2018), the Abbotts summon up every last ounce of courage to leave their now-burned-to-the-ground farm and embark on a peril-laden quest to find civilization. With this in mind, determined to expand beyond the boundaries, the resilient survivors have no other choice but to venture into eerily quiet, uncharted hostile territory, hoping for a miracle. But, this time, the enemy is everywhere.

Review:

This movie starts with a flashback of day 1, where we see Krasinski’s character going to the same grocery store they were in in the prologue of the first movie, only this time still stocked and manned. He joins his family at a ballgame and before they know it, a meteor is lightning up the sky and their town is attacked by the creatures that will eventually cause an apocalypse…

After that we pick up where we left in the first movie, in the basement of the farmhouse, after they found out how to stop those things. They leave the farmhouse and go on their way to find civilisation. It’s day 474 and Evelyn leaves with her two teenage kids and a newborn. But out there, the dangers are worse and not only because of the creatures that react to sound… sometimes there are worse things out there!

Again Krasinski is taking the helm to direct and this time also write the story. Blunt is back, as are Simmonds and Jupe. This time they are joined by Cillian Murphy (who was introduced in the prologue of this movie, at the ball game) and the world of A Quiet Place is expanding. Especially when Regan goes on a search for rescue, we get to see more of the devastating consequences of noise making out in the world.

This movie continues to showcase the dread and eerie feeling from the first movie. But in this one we hear people talk more (whisper)… the body count is of the charts in this one (due to the prologue, of course, but also because we meet more people out in the world) and there’s more on the way to fight the creatures. (Not going to say anything more about that, as I don’t want to spoil the movie!)

What often happens a lot with sequels is that it can never reach the same level of its original, which is also the case here. But it’s still a great sci-fi horror movie and Blunt, Simmonds, Murphy and Jupe are doing a great job making this movie a treat to watch!

At the moment they are making a prequel called ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ and a Part III is on its way as well (probably following the events from this movie as it ends with another open ending, like in the first movie) so we’re not done encountering the creatures and having to remain silent 🤫