A Quiet Place has finally invaded movie theatres, scaring moviegoers worldwide. It’s a lot to ask for audiences to sit in through a film that is almost entirely silent, but it is that silence specifically that makes A Quiet Place a tension-fueled nightmare. If you’re still on the fence-post about seeing this movie in a theatre, you need to know that the horror in this film is so carefully crafted for the theatre experience. It’s easy to say that big blockbuster films and action movies absolutely must be seen on a big screen but the abrasive lack of sound, and the darkness this movie lives in, is there with you in your seat. And in a movie theatre, where we all meet, huddled together in a dark room together, we aren’t unlike a family struggling to protect each other, and survive the night.
A Quiet Place opens this weekend, welcoming in a new wave of horror films ready to dominate the box office for a second year in a row. Earning an impressive $4.3 million on Thursday ticket sales and an estimated $19 million Friday night, A Quiet Place is expected to bring in $46 million. While this isn’t enough to knock weekend winner, Ready Player One off it’s top spot, the film is further establishes Horror’s dominance at the box office.
A Quiet Place opens on Day 89 after a mysterious apocalypse-type event. The details are vague but through the cautious movements of Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) and her children, we understand that they are in hiding. The group remains as silent as possible, careful not to drop supplies or carelessly shake prescription bottles full of noisy pills. A newspaper stand outside the general store warns us to remain silent and avoid making a sound- A nearly impossible task with restless and carefree children in tow. Outside, the streets are bare. Buildings are abandoned, streets are empty, and the only sign of life are the Abbott’s on a dangerous supply run for tools, toys and flu medication.
By Day 459[ish], The Abbott’s have developed a fairly sophisticated routine for safe living. They use sand to dampen the sounds of their footsteps on the ground outside. They use colored lighting to send each other messages, communicating only through sign language and hushed whispers. We’re still unsure exactly what it is that they are hiding from, but silence is clearly the key to their survival. Of course, this is all in any trailer you’ve already seen. But what you will not see in any trailer, what is impossible to get across in a two minute clip reel, is how incredibly nerve-racking this film is from start to finish.
“A Quiet Place is a 90 minute heart attack disguised as a heart-wrenching tale of survival.”
Like Fede Alvarez’s anxiety inducing Don’t Breathe (2016), A Quiet Place is a 90 minute heart-attack disguised as a heart-wrenching tale of survival. It is impossible to live without making a single sound and we sit in terror waiting for someone not knock over a lamp, drop a dinner plate, or god forbid sneeze! That fear is compounded by The Abbot’s deaf daughter Regan. Despite Dad’s (John Krasinski) best efforts to build Regan a working hearing aid, she is unable to hear any sound she might accidentally make…or the monsters creeping up behind her.
Truthfully, I was a little disappointed to hear that the creatures were Aliens, here to invade earth and steal or resources (or whatever). That said, the movies offers little-to-no explanation for their appearance or origin. So, if like me, you’d prefer to assume they were nondescript monsters from underground, you’re free to do so. Aliens or not, A Quiet Place, for all it’s minimalism and understated horrors, is a monster movie that f*cking delivers! Once these creatures come out of hiding and begin their decent on The Abbott family, they do not let up. In what is sure to be another banner year for the genre, A Quiet Place is the first great horror movie of 2018.
3.5/4 eberts
A Quiet Place opened April 5th, 2018 to 2740 screens for Thursday previews, expanding to 3508 going in to the weekend. Directed by John Krasinski, who also holds a writing credit along side Bryan Woods & Scott Beck, the film stars Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe. For a FULL SPOILER discussion of A Quiet Place, listen to our Drive Home From The Drive-In review on Patreon.
If you saw A Quiet Place this weekend, let us know what you thought on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and in the Horror Fiends of Nightmare on Film Street Facebook group!
