A Quiet Place (2018) Review

I plan on finally getting to see A Quiet Place 2 tomorrow evening, so in prep I had to watch the first film and I did that today and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a family trying to survive where they must live in silence to avoid monsters that are out to kill them. 

Main Character

Real Life Married Couple Emily Blunt and John Krasinski play the two lead characters here and they are both really good here. Obviously, they can't really talk together so they have to rely on natural chemistry that they obviously have and it is very effective in the film. These are two characters you actually care about in a horror film and I can't tell you how much better it makes the overall experience. 

Supporting Characters

This film has one of the smallest casts imaginable and really the only ones to mention are the two children played by Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe. They are both very good, especially for inexperienced performers and all of the cast do really good jobs and feel like a true family trying to survive an apocalypse. 

Story 

The story is fascinating because of how little detail there is. This film refreshingly doesn't overcomplicate things or explain too much about this world like there is no indication where the monsters actually came from. The film is simple as we watch these four people attempt to survive and stay quiet, their characters are what drives the film and the incredibly tense situations that they are put into. But there is no doubt, that some of the plot elements aren't really explained enough and with the premise there are times where the plot doesn't exactly make sense. Plus this films very ending infuriated me a bit and felt a little cheap after the film that I watched. 

Script

Now this is the hardest part of the film to examine as there is very little dialogue to work with. What is here is good and the dialogue displayed through sign language does a good job in developing the characters. But there were some elements of the plot that weren't written as well as I would have liked and it did hold the film back a little bit for me. 

Style 

The films style is really good, the use or lack of sound is really effective and keeps you on your toes for the duration of the film without the cheap jump scares that most horror films employ. The film is only 90 mins long which was the right decision for sure and it manages to turn some mundane activities that they do and turn them into scenes that make you bite your nails in tension. 

Overall 

Overall, A Quiet Place is a great film that does its job as a suspense thriller with elements of horror really well. Its a short film so if you haven't watched it then do it and then go see the sequel in the cinema. 

Rating - 8/10