Now playing at Village Centre Cinemas
Directed by:
John Krasinski
Starring:
John Krasinski
Emily Blunt
Millicent Simmonds
Noah Jupe
The theater is crowded, the film begins and the sound of crunching popcorn abruptly stops. This will happen another 50 times throughout the new, critically acclaimed “A Quiet Place,” but it is totally worth the pain of non-crunching excruciation.
Directed, partially written and starred in by John Krasinski, the film hit theaters just last week and drew in a whopping $50 million in its weekend debut.
“A Quiet Place” follows the Abbott family in a post-apocalyptic world. As one of the few groups of humans left in their corner of the world, Krasinski, Emily Blunt (the mother) and their children, played by Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe and Cade Woodward, must survive off what is left behind after alien-like creatures have taken over in 2020.
Their home, a quaint farmhouse and farmland, serve as their compound — the safest place on Earth and the most dangerous place to make a sound.
The setting is both disturbing and beautiful, making this film one for all the senses. Believe it or not, “A Quiet Place” has an alluring soundtrack, with a haunting yet peaceful composition played throughout the film and a perfectly random interlude by Neil Young.
As three creatures with extreme hearing abilities and near-blindness roam around their neck of the woods, the family must live silently. The creatures use sound, even faint sounds, to hunt and suddenly kill anything making noise.
Barefoot, sneaky and fast, the family must use sign language to communicate with their hearing-impaired daughter and for their overall safety.
Though Krasinski’s name is spattered across this film, Blunt nearly steals the show. Pregnant, only on screen, Blunt stuns in her struggle to raise children and bring one into a terrifyingly bleak world.
However, there are several drawbacks to the film. “A Quiet Place” is taxing. You will feel physically exhausted after absolutely nothing but clenching your fists. Next to that, even if you don’t eat the popcorn, abstain from slurping your Slurpee and pass up on shaking the box of Skittles, you will still, most likely, hear the film playing next door.
Don’t get me wrong, you should still see this film in theaters. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such eerie quietness in a room full of strangers. But, I’m even more excited to watch this film in my home, where I can fully dim the lights and make sure no sound but the faint white noise reaches my ears.
It may sound cheesy, but this film isn’t about the horror and the thrill, it’s about family. Krasinski pushes the envelope in how far a father will go to protect the ones he loves. The entire hour and a half tiptoes around a typical horror film, but it never crosses the line.
It’s difficult to think of Krasinski as a serious horror film director and actor when we all remember him smirking into the camera on “The Office.” But, if Krasinski and Blunt — Hollywood’s best dynamic duo aside from Jim and Pam — continue to make films as great as “A Quiet Place,” we would all be happily terrified forever.
At the end of the film, when your popcorn bucket is still full and your hands are still shaking, you’ll still want to do it all over again.
Hailey Stewart can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @Hailey_ann97