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A Quiet Place: Non-Spoiler Review

A Quiet Place (2018) is the third feature film to be directed by John Krasinski (The Office, 13 Hours). Starring Krasinski himself, along with his wife, Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, Edge Of Tomorrow). Centring around a family who are trying to survive in a Post-apocalypse world ravaged by creatures that can only hunt via hearing. Meaning that the family must remain very quiet in their day-to-day life. Because of this, the film has minimal dialogue.

First Thoughts

This movie is amazing! I went in with moderate expectations, as I really had no plans to see it. My co-workers just invited me on the day to see it and I thought I’d go. But it blew me away! The acting is great, the tension is unbelievable, and the drama is heart-breaking. Yes, whilst this film works really well as a horror it also works great as a family drama. I cannot recommend this film enough!

Lee Abbott/John Krasinski

I was not expecting such a powerful performance from Krasinski! But he brought his A-Game to the role. Lee is an emotionally torn survivalist whose main priority is protecting his family. Krasinski does a really good job of playing both cold and calculating but with this hidden layer of pain and emotion. Highlighting how far a father would go to protect his family. A magnificent performance by Krasinski and a brilliant job at directing as he was able to create a film that was filled with tension but also serious emotion. I really hope he continues down this new path in his career!

Evelyn Abbott/Emily Blunt

Also bringing some new-found energy to a performance is Emily Blunt who works as a yin to Krasinski's yang. Whilst Lee is the survivalist she’s the kind nurturer. Her and Krasinski have brilliant chemistry together, although I’m not sure much acting was involved there, as the actors are married to each other, their scenes together are very emotional. But she also elevates many of the scenes she was in. Some the tensest scenes in the film have her involved! 

Regan Abbott/Millicent Simmonds

Whilst Krasinski and Blunt give incredibly strong performances, I’d say the one who stole the show was Millicent Simmonds (Wanderlust) who gives a great performance as the eldest child of the family. Her emotional turmoil and character arc are arguably the strongest out of all the characters in this film. From the guilt, she feels from past events to her estranged relationship with her father to her dealing with her deafness. Something I imagine came fairly easy to the actress, who is actually deaf. But what really caught my eye was the switching of gender roles. As Regan really wants to hunt whilst her brother (Noah Jupe) wishes to stay at home. This was actually interesting, and I wish that the film played it up a bit more. But overall Millicent Simmonds did a great job in this film, my favourite character!

Marcus Abbott/Noah Jupe

I don’t really have a lot to say on Noah Jupe’s (Wonder, Suburbicon) as I felt he was more of a side-character, compared to his co-stars. But he still does a good job here. Much like how Blunt and Krasinski were Yin and Yang to each other, Jupe is the Yin to Simmonds’s Yang. Whilst his sister was more strong-willed and wanted to be more active, he was timider and wanted to stay at home. He did have some good scenes with Krasinski and Simmonds, emphasising their characters due to how different he was to them, particularly in the third act. So, whilst I think he didn’t have a huge role he did a good job in this film.

Quiet Atmosphere

When I first heard that the film was about people who needed to stay quiet and that there was very minimal dialogue and foley I thought that it would have been better suited for 20-minute short rather than a feature film. But I was proven wrong! It is highly effective! Creating this really tense atmosphere throughout the whole film and really allowed the actors to shine as they had to rely mainly on their facial expressions rather than just dialogue.
   My only issue with this was that the film relies a little too heavy on the quiet element of the film. Particularly from the audience. Whilst it draws the audience in, any kind of sound can take you out of it. For instance, whilst I was watching the film a couple behind me were giggling to themselves and whispering jokes to one another. And that took me out of some of the scenes.

Conclusion

This is a really good horror-drama film with strong performances and a great premise. I cannot recommend this film enough. If you're a horror fan or drama fan then you will dfeinitely enjoy this film!


So that’s my review of A Quiet Place. Have you seen the film? What did you think of it? Was there anything that I missed out? If so, then leave a comment down below. And, if you liked this review then you can follow this blog for more content. Thank you for reading. 

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