When Silence Is Scary

Rating: 8/10 (9 October 2018)

John Krasinski proves himself to be a director of promise with this smart horror movie set in a near future when humans have to be completely silent if they are to survive.
There are strange, spider-like creatures on the loose, you see, and while they can't see or smell, they can hear the tiniest sound, and when they do they come creepy crawling along to tear you apart. What these creatures are, or where they come from, is never explained, which is a wise move on the part of the filmmakers, because the air of mystery adds to the overall scariness of the premise. We don't know any more than the characters in the movie, who focus not on the big picture wheres or whys, but rather on surviving moment to moment.
"A Quiet Place" deftly straddles the delicate line between being entertainingly scary and disturbingly off putting. Much of the content in this film is of the variety that personally bothers me very much and can make horror films feel more like endurance tests than anything else. I'm talking specifically about children being in peril for the entire movie, and the frantic helplessness parents feel in trying to protect their young from circumstances beyond their control. I don't generally enjoy stories like that, and there's a moment early on in "A Quiet Place" that sends the message to its audience that all bets are off and the movie isn't necessarily going to follow horror movie rules, including keeping the kids safe. But Krasinski as a director has more on his mind than just making us feel awful, and instead focuses on the strength and resilience of families when pushed into situations they could never imagine, and the willingness of parents to bear almost anything to keep their kids safe.
In a world that never shuts up, "A Quiet Place" reminds us how scary silence can be.
Grade: A-