Silence is golden and lines are lousy.

Rating: 7/10 (4 October 2018)

This movie earned some respect from this viewer right up front: it just THRUSTS you into the story. Usually, in post-apocalypse tales, the tendency is to utilize some back story or text to tell the audience how the world got to its current state. Not the case here. We follow a young family, played by real-life marrieds Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, and Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe as two of their children. Their main concern in this post-nuke Earth is trying to survive the wrath of some very weird creatures that appear to be blind and which hunt by sound. The sense of hearing on these creatures is so acute that our heroes have to take a lot of precautions, including going barefoot in the woods.
There are some character decisions here that don't make sense, and the story too does not bear a lot of scrutiny, but when it comes to the horror aspect of the presentation, "A Quiet Place" delivers. As expected, the sound design is quite good, and Krasinski, who also co-wrote, co-executive produced, and directed, builds some considerable suspense. The family themselves aren't always THAT smart, but they're surprisingly sympathetic for modern horror movie characters. You actually care what happens to them. Plus, it's definitely of some interest to have a script where much of the dialogue is conveyed through sign language, and where our heroes have their work cut out for them trying not to make too much noise.
The performances are right on the money and very effective, from personable leads Blunt and Krasinski and Simmonds and Jupe, two very appealing child actors.
Finally, the creatures deserve a mention since their design is somewhat inventive and interesting. They are just purely animalistic and one can see there would be absolutely no reasoning with monsters of this variety.
How did these creatures arise in the first place? Krasinski and company never let you know; they keep exposition to a bare minimum. And that can either be a strength or weakness for the potential viewer.
Seven out of 10.