A Quiet Place (2018)

The tension throughout this film’s intense. It’s easily its best horror attribute. Nearly every scene is drowning in an anxiety-inducing atmosphere. The sheer brutality of the monsters mixed with the abundance of silence makes for some of the most nerve-wracking scenes ever put to film. Krasinski allows just the right amount of sentimentality to make us feel and worry for the protagonist. 

The family communicates with sign language which oddly makes the film more immersive (unless you despise reading subtitles). This is only the first in a long line of really clever decisions ‘A Quiet Place’ makes. Several scenes including one where a pregnant Emily Blunt has to give birth to her baby as a creature stalks their house are genuinely ingenious.

‘A Quiet Place’ is about as tight a film as they come; not one frame could be taken out of this film and adding more would only disservice it. This is a big credit to Krasinki’s directing and script (co-written with Bryan Woods and Scott Beck) as well as the rest of the team that did the incredibly immersive lighting and sound design. From shots setting up impending danger to well executed scenes that progress the plot ‘A Quiet Place’ never loses sight of itself and has an extremely consistent structure throughout.

The film is mature and clever but never loses sight of its creature feature origins and has some great, iconic shots that teeter on the edge of pulpy, like the amazing final shot. The lack of dialogue makes each line all the more impactful and Krasinki never embellishes the sappiness which would inevitably lessen the effect the later half of the film has.

The acting all round is brilliant, from Krasinki and Blunt to Jupe and Simmonds. The small cast leads to little room for error and every actor stands up to the next with not a single bad performance throughout. The cinematography is also really solid making the overall aesthetic of the film captivating and warm.

This is one of the best horrors in recent years and will go down a classic for future generations. From directing and acting to lighting and set design this film is a tremendous achievement and is definitely worth watching.