The power of silence

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2018)

An effective horror movie with a brilliantly simple premise, A Quiet Place follows a family (the parents are played by Emily Blunt and her very lucky real-life husband John Krasinski, who is also the director here) surviving in a farm after most of mankind has been wiped out by blind monsters who use sound to locate their preys, so any loud or even moderate noise can attract them.
This neat but potentially schlocky scenario is elevated by a strong execution. Acting is solid, set-pieces tense; a scene involving a nail sticking from a stair tread had viewers in my theater breathless and deathly still, myself included.
It's a testament to the movie's quality how this was one of the quietest audiences I've ever met in a cinema, which for a horror film is always a good sign... and for *this* horror film felt particularly appropriate, as it features some of the best use of sound and silence in the last years. Many recent blockbusters are so constantly noisy that even an explosion doesn't register; this movie is so quiet that even a floor creaking has viewers grimacing in terror.
I would say the first half is pretty much perfect. The second part is also fine, but more conventional; as usual, the more we see of the monsters, the less they become threatening.
Overall, this is one of the best horror films of the last years, as long as you don't overthink its (admittedly numerous) inconsistencies... say, how these people cannot play Monopoly normally because the pieces tapping against the board would make too much noise, and yet are somehow able to silently manage a farm or maintain their various electrical equipment without attracting the creatures. However, A Quiet Place is so entertaining and well-crafted that I can forgive its internal logic not being airtight.
8/10