A Quiet Place - 13 Nerdy Nights of Horror Day 7 (After Halloween Specials)

A Quiet Place takes place in the not-too-distant future, in which most of humanity is wiped out, and we focus on one surviving family. Their tactics involve staying as quiet as possible, in order to avoid the creatures that have acute hearing. Things become more complicated for them, as they are soon expecting a baby that will become a target too.

In 2016, Michael Bay’s gave us the war film, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, starring John Krasinski; what we all thought was going to be another tasteless retelling of history, ended up becoming one of the most intense, nail-biting, and exhausting war films I had ever seen. I was impressed by both Bay’s dedication and development he gave to these people, making us truly care for them, and seeing John Krasinski in a role like this was impressive. While it may not have been among my favorites of that year, it was still an impressive feat to unhold and give credit where it’s due. I bring this up, because after watching A Quiet Place, I can gladly declare Krasinski as Michael Bay’s good luck charm.

Originally the film was intended to be an installment of the Cloverfield franchise, but that idea was scrapped nearly the second Krasinski signed on, not only as the star, but as the director with additional re-writes; you can still see the intention with the design of the creatures, looking like a mix between the lickers from Resident Evil and the demogorgan from Stranger Things. If it did end up becoming a Cloverfield movie, it would have been a decent fit, especially coming off of Netflix’s The Cloverfield Paradox; with having the survival instinct to rely on silence, you get completely immersed in the dreading atmosphere that builds, wondering when there’s going to be some kind noise to ruin it.

Krasinski and Emily Blunt both give such captivating performances; being married in real life and in the movie, you really sense the stressful nature of keeping their family alive, even at the risk of losing theirs. Blunt, in particular, portraying a pregnant mother who goes through nearly the absolute worst struggle in the entire film, it made us truly feel the need for them to see daylight at least one last time.

Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds are also great as the kids, especially Simmonds who is deaf in real life, so the use of sign language does feel more mandatory than as a gimmick. With how diverse awards season has been slowly getting at, and with Paramount shooting all four of the actors for an Oscar, I’m willing to bet Blunt and Simmonds would be the most deserving of nominations; that, and John Krasinski for Best Director.

Some people have discussed the ending, being split on it either due to possible sequel begging; but to be honest, I don’t really see this getting a sequel, because I’m not sure what else there is to accomplish with the surviving characters. I take the ending as a sort of last stand move, than a lead up to a sequel; unless they do an anthology series, I think it might be best to leave this alone and give John Krasinski some new ideas to tweak with.

Overall, A Quiet Place is both a great horror film, and one of the best directed movies I’ve seen this year. It’s definitely a refreshing take on the genre, and I would proudly put Krasinski up with there with Jordan Peele, among the list of B-list comedy actors turned top class horror film makers. The suspense is great, the concept works, the acting is fantastic (especially from the kids); don’t miss this if you have yet to see it.

Rating: A+