A Quiet Place - 2018
In A Quiet Place, director John Krasinski accomplishes a truly remarkable feat. It's one of his earliest outings behind the camera, yet he shows no signs of beginner’s angst. Instead, he finds an incredible ability to strike such a delicate balance – a monster thriller with post-apocalyptic hues and a wholly unique concept (or rather a very ANCIENT one) of wordless storytelling. Yet, all of this is really just the shell, the husk which carries around the true tale about the power of love and family and the honor of sacrifice.
Krasinski nails the former bit dexterously and intricately. Do not be misled. The suspense in this film is REAL, despite the fact that there is probably less than 10 lines of dialogue throughout its running time. The shots are tight. The sound editing and camerawork adroit. The performances perfectly measured. In fact, there is a real touchstone of Hitchcockian filmcraft at play here. By that I mean the ability to create suspense through suggestion, tautness through the presentation of fewer details which then allows the viewers mind to wander, explore, and fill in the gaps with rising horror.
These kinds of works pull at us psychologically, extracting our fears scene by scene until we find ourselves so entrenched that the ridiculousness of a tale about creatures who destroy the world through over-sensitive aural capacities is completely lost on us. By the end, we know only one thing – we must survive! This is the beauty of A Quiet Place.
And yet, it is not even close to ALL of the beauty of the film. Nestled in the middle of all this budding suspense are signs of familial disquiet. A deep-seated pain for a family member lost. A daughter crushed by the burden of guilt over a horrible mistake, leaving her feeling that she is neither loved nor lovable. A mother willing to go to any lengths to protect her children and the life growing inside her, and finally a father so hellbent on survival (he must keep them safe and alive), yet carrying around such ruefulness that he finds little means for sharing his care. These relational issues come to a head in one of the more powerful endings in recent memory – an ending which wraps up the suspense and thriller plot strands while showing the incredible redemptive power of love. Don’t be fooled by teasers or posters. A Quiet Place is a fantastic family tale (though I’d put the younger kids to bed before pushing play).
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