It wasn't a bad movie really, so why am I left so underwhelmed?

Rating: 4/10 (14 August 2018)

I'm honestly not really sure what to say about this movie. I'd heard great things about it, and then I'd heard about a few who just didn't like it. And I'm surprised to say I think I find myself in the camp of the latter. I usually prefer the psychological thriller over the straight up slasher/horror film and I was happy when a few minutes in I was able to tell that it would be more of the first. The problem was that it really wasn't very thrilling either. There wasn't really a lot to figure out, no twist ending, no back story, not even a surprising event to speak of. The glaring plot holes were blatant and hard to overlook and once it was obvious that there wouldn't be much development, the plot itself became monotonous and tiring. While there was a certain level of suspense associated with simply watching our heroes try to live their lives in silence, I was still expecting more. Where did these creatures come from? Aren't they going to go looking for other people? How is it that the sound of static from a hearing aid is the weakness? WHY DID JOHN KRASINSKI HAVE TO DIE?? Seriously. It's not like it serves any purpose. They're right back where they started. Why are they so inconsistent with what the monster can and can't hear? Why didn't they get rid of that nail after one person stepped on it? How did Emily Blunt give birth in ten minutes? How did she hold on her screams while in labor until the monster left? What's the long term plan here? I mean, eventually they're all gonna die of old age if nothing else. Are the kids gonna have to repopulate the earth? Are they going to go looking for more people? I don't really get it.
There were several things about this movie that I REALLY enjoyed. They did a phenomenal job with the sound, using virtually none until we needed to hear it. I haven't seen a movie with so little sound since the days of Charlie Chaplin, and I was surprised to say how effective I found the use of sound to be. John Krasinski's direction was really great and I look forward to the day when we get to see something else from him, because I think he definitely has promise. This particular time, though, I'm left underwhelmed. And I'm sad to say it because I was really looking forward to this movie, but there just wasn't enough there to keep me entertained.
However, I did actually enjoy the last shot. I know some people don't like the "we're going into battle and we may or may not survive" ending, but I actually found it to be the first really surprising plot choice the movie made.