Film Review: A Quiet Place

If there’s any film that supports my idea of abolishing food in the cinema, it’s this one.

A Quiet Place is the latest joint from US Office alumni John Krasinski. It’s a horror film where the premise is that the majority of the film is completely silent. Krasinski and Emily Blunt play the parents of a family that communes mostly through sign language. I would tell you why but to be honest I wish I hadn’t known before going in. If you’re considering seeing A Quiet Place I would heavily recommend going in completely blind.

So, the good. The heaviest praise I can give this film is that it doesn’t outstay its welcome. At 90 minutes, it’s the perfect length to explore its premise to a satisfying degree. Any more and the cracks would start to show. Just as I was starting to question certain elements of the plot and universe, the credits were rolling and miserable teens were poised with a brush to sweep under the seats. The performances are good for the most part, aside from some unavoidably annoying child characters.

I’ve spoken before about my dislike for modern horror’s preferred scare methods. The ‘six seconds of silence followed by loud sound cue’ jump scare is predictable, repetitive and, consequently, not scary. Momentarily shocked does not equal scared Hollywood. A Quiet Place does use this formula perhaps too much but the fact most of the film is silent anyway does aid in these being less obviously incoming. However, it’s still easy enough to see them coming because of empty space on screen for things to jump out and so the film isn’t particularly frightening.

I would recommend seeing this though. It’s an enjoyable enough watch which is short and novel. Only go to the cinema if you know it’ll be quiet though. I’d have preferred to watch this at home in a darkened room than have the silence of the film exacerbate the cud-chewing of the dullards sat directly behind me.