A nifty idea with its share of contrivances

Rating: 6/10 (20 October 2019)

A Quiet Place is a nifty idea for a film that, in terms of plot, expects us to buy a lot. We have seen silent films and we have seen movies short on dialogue (one of my favorites being 2013's All Is Lost) although the role played by silence in John Krasinski's horror thriller is an interesting one. You would be right to compare the film to 2016's Don't Breathe, but the ambition here is even greater.
Sadly, this does not mean a better movie. While certainly more clever than other examples of its genre, it fails to avoid the story-convenient character stupidity (or rather momentary lapses of caution from otherwise well-prepared characters) and such clichés as the ever-resilient "jump scare" tactic. Admittedly, it might make more sense to include such scares in a horror movie like this than most others.
I should clarify: the story is set on a scarcely populated future Earth, where only a few human beings have survived the arrival of deadly creatures; creatures which are blind as bats but extremely sensitive to sound. Because of this, the remaining humans try to live in nigh complete silence - creating paths of sand to walk and conversing via sign language - barring those who can bear no more and scream until the creatures find them.
The year is 2020. Lee Abbott (Krasinski) and his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) try to prevail along with their three children - one of them being deaf (perhaps more than one), which usefully explains this particular family's proficiency in American sign language. We are lead to assume other members of the species weren't so fortunate, at least not within close range of the Abbott family.
To keep silent, they eat decidedly non-crunchy food, and as mentioned, rely solely on non-verbal communication (a rule which is broken by our heroes at a few inopportune occasions). This makes for a series of uniquely tense moments, even when we question the decision that brought us there. The build-up is expertly done, the camera giving us a good look at the things that are likely to break the silence and doom our heroes (the accompanying sound editing is masterful). Unfortunately, details like this compel us to wonder what else would be making noise but doesn't.
I don't know if I can recommend this movie in a theatre, as not everyone will be lucky to be in the company of an audience that has the patience or attention span to let the silence of the movie engulf them. Douglas Adams used the term "terribly ghastly silence" when the Vogon fleet arrived and our world suffered for its inability to read the appropriate demolition orders and planning charts. This is probably the sort of silence we experience when we visit the world as seen in A Quiet Place. All the everyday noises we're used to are very noticeably not there. Unless your fellow movie-goers have smartphones to check.
Ultimately, the result is a mix. To reiterate, A Quiet Place isn't free from the clichés and contrivances that plague this genre (the obligatory family photographs play their usual part and there is no way that, as the film insists, the humans we follow are the first to discover the creatures' weakness), but it is a considerable directing effort on the part of Krasinski. It looks beautiful and convincing. Its lack of sound sets it apart. Oh, and these are some stellar performances from participants of all ages.
I commend the film for its ambition and Krasinski for his skillful attempts to turn himself into something more than simply "Jim from The Office" - we'll see how that goes. It has problems, but I couldn't stop appreciating what it was doing, nor could I get over the fact that I wasn't watching After Earth, which arguably features alien monsters similar to the lifeforms in A Quiet Place. Granted, the former movie is much funnier.