A Solid, Inventive Thriller

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2018)

Sometimes, it's just fun to see a movie about a concept you've never really thought of before. That's primarily where "A Quiet Place" succeeds, playing on the concept of "sound" (or the lack thereof) to craft a solid, inventive thriller.
For a basic plot summary, "A Quiet Place" tells the story of Evelyn (Emily Blunt) & Lee (John Krasinski) and their three children. Viewers are dropped into their struggle mid-stream, as they must live a life of almost total silence to avoid being hunted by invading monsters that hunt via a keen sense of sound. With Evelyn pregnant, however, it quickly becomes clear that the danger will be greater than ever before once the baby arrives.
To me, what made "A Quiet Place" an entertaining experience was how it differentiated itself from similar films by playing with sound/silence as almost a character unto itself. I had never seen (heard?!) this done in a film before. One of the children characters is deaf, so her scenes are especially interesting in this regard. Usually, films seen in the cinema are pretty bombastic and flaunt the sound mixing and effects. Here, although similar care is taken, it is just the exact opposite (weird to be sitting in a theater and hearing...well...nothing!).
For all that inventiveness, however, this is a pretty simple film in terms of plot execution and character development. Some might find it a bit predictable for the genre, while that very thing will endear it to those who are coming in solely for the visceral experience. It all just kind of depends on what one is looking for in the experience.
As such, this is a film for me that wasn't "deep" enough to grab a really high ranking, but was easily good enough to be solidly entertaining (I was never close to bored). The "hook" of the sound-manipulation was the draw for me here, and the plot/characters were just done well enough to prevent me from ever checking out mentally.