Movie Review – A Quiet Place [SXSW]

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.