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| A frame from A Quiet Place (2018) |
Reviews:
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A Quiet Place (2018) poster
A Quiet Place (2018)
The tagline
pretty much explains the plot here (the screenplay was written by John
Krasinski [who also directed], Bryan Woods and Scott Beck [based upon the duo’s
own story]). Set in a post-apocalypse world, where disgusting and big alien
creatures have taken over, this is focusing on a family that tries its best to
survive; meaning they try to remain quiet at all times (they employ the sign
language in order to communicate with each other), because the monsters may be
blind (an advantage to the few human survivors) but they have extra sensitive
hearing abilities (a disadvantage to the few humans left alive) and will attack
anything that makes the slightest sound.
Not a lot has
been left that hasn’t been already said about this, which is essentially the
cinematic sensation of the year, so I’ll keep it short and simple, in the
tradition of this column. The project was originally developed as a Cloverfield (2008 – present) sequel, one
that would be inspired by the many silent films the filmmakers are fans of, but
somewhere along the road it was decided to make it as a standalone feature with
no connection to that franchise. It was mostly filmed in November 2017 in New
York, and a teaser was quickly released, albeit to not too many views. Then in
March 2018 the film was premiered at the South by Southwest Festival to huge
critical acclaim which worked as a domino effect and had everyone talking about
this new original piece, resulting to several online hits and queries for
further screenings. It went on general theatrical release and it grossed more
than $334.5 million, which considering its $21 million budget is impressive to
say the least and a sequel is already in the works (it is said that it will see
the light of the night in 2020).
But is it as
good as the word of mouth says it is? Yes, and more so! It is featuring the
best sound design in the history of the medium, and it actually is the most
original and intelligent horror film that we have seen in ages. Sure, it is
awkward in the sense that all its set-pieces are long, so we do not get too
many of them in its short 90 minutes running time (and some 7 minutes of that
is the end credits, leaving us only with approximately 83 minutes of monster
mayhem), and maybe the whole idea would be more appropriate for a longer film
or as a matter of fact, an event TV series, but there are
so many moments of great drama on display here that you should be forgiving
with such small faults. The end result is not entertaining per say, and it
should probably be mostly observed as a great work of art. But even if you are
here for the monsters and the monsters alone, fear not, the ones here are both
terrific and terrifying. The bottom line is that if you need to see only one
horror film this year, this should be it.
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A Quiet Place Part II (2020) promotional poster
A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
Follow Emmett
(Cillian Murphy), Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt), and a fistful of kids under
their protection, as they try to survive an alien invasion featuring big and
gross creatures that cannot see you, but do instead have very sensitive
hearing, not to mention a desire to eat you alive. For a chase film with
overtones of horror (don’t look for too much character development in here),
this is competent enough (the air of professionalism is top-notch in every
department), but I prefer films that have something to say, and this does not.
For a film about
monsters that attack when you make a sound, the sound design in particular is
outstanding, especially when it changes its point of view (or is it point of
hear?). Directed by John Krasinski, this dialogue-free for most of the time,
which is its most original element, but its overall silence also boosts the
jump scares when those happen and help them become more effective. The end
result is very similar to television’s most successful zombie show, but this is
not a bad thing. Made on a $61 million budget, this went on to gross $297.4 –
an impressive amount, considering the Covid-19 pandemic factor – so it was
natural that more of the same has already been announced.
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