Minimalistic horror. Nuanced, refined, and staunchly impactful.

Rating: 7/10 (19 May 2018)

It's amazing in this day and age that we could come up with a fresh new idea for a horror film considering how awful the vast majority turn out to be, and even more impressive that it's such a basic concept. Sure, it may be similar to Tremors, but it's significantly different to give a unique spin.
The premise is simple - There's monsters that can't see, they eat humans, and they can hear very well. The main thing that sets this apart from Tremors is the fact that sound is the issue rather than vibrations through the ground, and as such the characters live their lives as quietly as possible, communicating through nothing more than whispers and sign language. Unfortunately, this is also a major shortcoming of the film, as it has to take some liberties with exactly how the sound works, as actions seem to be taken at time for nothing more than narrative reasons rather than intelligent problem solving, and many explanations left missing in the theatrical release, such as how they have a power generator without attracting these monsters to their location. However, I feel the execution more than makes up for most of these shortcomings.
The emotional aspect is surprisingly effective, and is without a doubt the main element that pushes this above the usual 7 from me. The despair and themes in this film are comparable to The Witch, though toned down to a PG-13 level. We follow the lives of a small family trying to get by in a world where noise means certain death. The couple's daughter is practically deaf, and this is set up perfectly for offing her little brother early in the film. He explains to her that they're going to escape by rocket ship, and he's seen trying to turn on a toy rocket, to which he's told not to as it's too loud, however, the daughter gives the toy back to the kid, to which the kid pockets the batteries to put back in it later. Due to her deafness, she is oblivious as her brother turns on the toy, and later burdens herself with his death. In a rather depressing scene, she disables the noise mechanism in the toy, brings it to the boy's grave, and leaves it upon it. It's kind of embarrassing getting emotional at the world's most quiet film, as everyone can undoubtedly hear you sniveling at the manipulative dramatic elements, but I'll be damned if it doesn't still get me. It encapsulates that helpless feeling of knowing you could have done better and blaming yourself for the death of a loved one, which is a feeling I'm all too familiar with. In a rather muddled scene, her dad sets the record straight with her that he doesn't blame her for the death, and then sacrifices himself to save two of his remaining children. I get what they wanted to go for here, but they should not have given him a shovel in this scene, as that gave him a clear option of using it as a distraction rather than doing the last resort. Rather than tossing the shovel at the metal silo nearby, he gently drops it straight down and screams to give away his exact position.
The gripes I have are a numerous amount of small issues. The white board in which the dad is brainstorming has "What is THE WEAKNESS?" written on it as a visual clue to use later in the film once they find the weakness, though no one in their right mind would remind their self that they should be searching for the answer to all of their problems, as it simply goes without saying. The weakness, while not a dealbreaker, toes the lines of a cheesy plot twist, though in the end it does make sense, and is in fact quite obvious prior to the actual revelation. There is also a scene where the dad scurries out of the house to find his children, walking right past a massive leak without noticing it, and this mistake actually turns beneficial by the end of it as it provides a bit of a sound barrier for the mother to hide with her baby when the a creature breaks in, which seems like a bit of plot convenience.
The sound design is excellent, ironically enough. Aside from a few cheap jumpscares with typical scare chords and loud noises tossed in (about half of them, the other half just being purely visual horror), the film is people being very quiet, and there's an occasional ambient song. It's almost entrancing, and certainly not something I've experienced from a film. There aren't too many jumpscares at all, and they certainly didn't make the film unenjoyable. It's a surprisingly restrained film in an age of trite.
All in all, it was an excellent movie-going experience and one that I highly recommend. It would probably be better on home release due to how quiet and ambient it is throughout. Kudos to Krasinski. Now, without further ado, branch out, far away from Michael Bay. You're way too talented for the likes of him!