A Quiet Place
There have been several horror releases in 2017-18 that generated word-of-mouth and critical hype as original, refreshing and old-school technique films from the genre. It’s a very popular category of filmmaking; many horror films are produced and delivered to loyal fans who are after the latest, coolest, the classical-est, the scariest, and the goriest.
Of the horror films released in 2018, A Quiet Place is one of the stand-outs. It’s one of the most fun films I’ve ever seen, and feels fantastically original.
In a post-apocalyptic near-future where most of humanity has been wiped out, a family are hiding from blind monsters that have a heightened sense of hearing. If they hear you, they will hunt you. And hence, what is left of the human population has had to resort to living in silence. The film opens with the Abbott family walking through an abandoned town, the parents, played beautifully by John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, with their three children, scrounging for food and supplies at an abandoned grocery shop. As they continue walking through the woods, their youngest son sets off the loud sound effects on a toy, which instantly exposes him to being devoured by one of the roaming beasts.
Despite the dystopia the world has fallen into, the family attempt to rebuild. We cut to a year later when the mother is pregnant again, and in anticipation of the arrival of a new baby (an act that is the total opposite of anything quiet) they have set up their home and made intricate plans to defy the monsters on the day of the delivery.
It is a simple premise but a pertinent story, as we watch a family try to grieve and keep together whilst building something new, against all odds. The fact that the film is so quiet, with few lines of dialogue and most of them whispered, makes the sound design ever more prominent, every single click and creek feels like a slamming door! It was a surreal experience watching this in a cinema full of people, everyone frozen, not a single peep or rustle from a soul for the duration of the screening. I even felt a bit sorry for the guy who a few seats to my left had purchased a large popcorn, only to realise early on that there was no feasible way for him to consume it without disturbing the experience for everybody, and so left the tub aside, untouched.
Part of the film’s intensity comes from knowing the mother’s time to deliver her baby will come at any moment – and when that time comes… brace yourself. Have a pillow handy to hide behind!
From the standpoint of a family tale, it is beautiful. The idea of nurturing life in a world where every sound could be fatal, the family decide to go ahead anyway, making careful preparations, deciding not to give in to the status quo. There is a strong message here, of defiance against tyranny by creating something new and continuing to build the future no matter what.