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A Quiet Place

Coming Soon

Official Selection:

Kicking off the 2018 SXSW Conference in Austin this weekend was the crowd-pleasing monster thriller from actor/director John Krasinski (The Office), A Quiet Place.

Starring Krasinski and real-life wife Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns), the duo live their life in complete silence in order to protect their two children, played by Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds, from a violent monster species. I’m told not to give much more away. Seriously though, why would you want that anyway?

During Q&A, Krasinski spoke about Jaws as his inspiration for the film, where the characters and their boat, more than the titular shark, are the focal point of the film, and A Quiet Place is mildly successful at mimicking this influence. In this instance, silence is the rickety old boat, the only fragile bit of protection standing between themselves and a blood-thirsty killer. American Sign Language (ASL) is naturally embedded in the film, but there’s not much dialogue spoken or signed and that becomes a very tough pill to swallow. If the cast weren’t so darn likable, audiences might not care whether these characters lived or died?

On the other hand, the silence is a character all it’s own and it creates an eerie, empty playground for Krasinski to gleefully jump-scare the living shit out of the audience. Strange recommendation for a movie about being quiet, but see this in the loudest theater near you. The sound design is combined with an excellent display of suspense-building on Krasinski’s part and creature design from the experts at ILM. There’s little chance moviegoers will control the thumping in their chest come April. I was sick to my stomach for an hour afterwards.

Krasinski also spoke about not being a genre guy and was apprehensive about making one until a studio exec explained the basic premise of A Quiet Place: “a guy and his family can’t speak or they’ll die.” He drew on his own experiences as a father. Krasinski and his wife Emily had just had their second daughter. “I was already in the world of terrified. Let’s put that into a movie!” says the filmmaker. Within the frame of an apocalyptic landscape littered with monsters, the film is completely relatable for parents and the insecurities that come with the job.

This is a strong recommend, especially for date night…trust me. Extra underwear recommended. A Quiet Place is in theaters April 6th, 2018.

A Quiet Place is streaming now on the following services:
Movie Reelist Contributor: Chris Giroux
Chris Giroux is founder and editor-in-charge at Movie Reelist, an entertainment news and review blog serving the most fanatic moviegoers. Chris started his publication in Detroit in 2010 and has since reviewed hundreds of films and interviewed numerous talent across the country. He is an avid film festival attendee and red carpet photographer, having shot the likes of Steven Spielberg, Bill Murray, Mark Hamill, and more. Chris grew up in New Mexico, where he studied mass media writing while working in post-production and multimedia authoring. It is also where he discovered Big Trouble in Little China and Escape from New York, resulting in an unhealthy Kurt Russell obsession.

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