This film will always have a spot in my memory banks. Not because it is a particularly brilliant or memorable film but it was the final film I watched for free as an employee of [name redacted] cinemas. I clocked out of my final shift ever, collected my staff discounted drink and strolled into the screen to watch 'A Quiet Place' (2018). I do love a good horror and I had heard very good things about the film and so my expectations were quite high. I wouldn't say I was disappointed but I also wouldn't say that the film lived up to the hype. Watching the film for a second time my opinion of it is pretty much the same. The film follows the Abbott family who are struggling to survive in a dystopian world taken over by monsters with acute hearing, forcing the family to live in silence. Their youngest child is a victim of these monsters and his death has caused great tension within the family. With this tension growing by the day and with a new baby on the way it looks like the family is heading for disaster.
The narrative of this film is a super simple one but it is executed very effectively. The film was marketed mostly as a horror film and it is a very decent film in the genre, but the horror aspects of the film take a back seat to the family drama which is at the heart of the narrative. This aspect of the film is done well and makes the film much more intriguing than your standard horror film. It meant that I felt much more connected to the characters which in turn made me much more invested in their plight, and the actors need praise for this especially as they manage to do this all while being mostly completely silent. The two child actors who play Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus Abbott (Noah Jupe) are both very good. Child actors usually don't hit the mark for me, but both were great in their roles. Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are also very good as Evelyn and Lee respectively. They have a clear onscreen chemistry (which you would expect seeing as they are married) and the emotional moments they share are some of the most effective parts of the film. One issue I do have with the family drama aspect of the narrative is that it does seem a little rushed in parts. The film could have done with being an extra 15 or 20 minutes long so that it could flesh out this narrative thread a little more. I also have an issue with the ending of the film. The ending on a narrative level is fine, it works within the story and makes sense. The problem I have is that the ending takes a huge tonal shift, especially with the very last shot, and it becomes kind of comical. The film is melancholy throughout, there are no comedic moments and only a few small uplifting moments, but the film decides to end with a close up of Emily Blunt cocking a shotgun like an action hero. It is such a weird way to end a film like this and almost shits all over the emotional impact of the film.
The film also suffers from the same problems that a lot of monster films suffer from, mainly that the more we see the monsters the less scary they become. The creature design for the monsters is not all that inspired and looks like a lot of other movie monsters just mashed together. The CGI effects on the monsters do look good, but once the more and more they become a part of the film the less and less interested and scared I became. However, the film is extremely effective in creating tension through its sound design, or lack of. We learn very early in the film that you have to be quiet to survive and so any slight noise brings a moment of panic not just to the characters but to us as audience members. The silence of the film is also a great way to create genuine jump scares. Yes they are still a little cliched in how they are done, but they feel much less forced than in other horror films and are also a lot more effective. There are also several hearts in mouths moments in the film where the tension builds up brilliantly to an almost unbearable crescendo, Unfortunately, these moments do become few and far between as the film progresses and the monsters take much more of the centre stage but this film is a much more effective horror film than a lot of the other dross that is released.
'A Quiet Place' is a film that was largely overrated upon its release, but is still a very good horror with great dramatic elements. It is a brilliantly tense film at parts and a very emotional one at others with great performances enhancing both these aspects of the film. The monsters are not incredibly designed and the decision to show more and more of them as the film goes on did take a lot of the tension out of the film, but the narrative and the gimmick of the film are interesting enough that it doesn't become a huge detriment to the overall experience. I think the reception this film received is a great indication of how bad most horror films that are released in cinemas are. There has been a bit of a renaissance in recent years, and this film did help in doing this. If you're looking for a decent horror film with a good story to watch while in lockdown you could do much worse than this.