Brilliantly Tense

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2018)

I really love thriller films and John Krasinski has done a fantastic job in making this one. It truly was taut and tense throughout which was amplified by the film being in near silence for the most part. Any time a slight sound was made you knew there was a threat incoming. I was worried that the lack of dialogue would bog the film down somewhat but this never ended up being an issue.
For me it was a good choice to have the film set many months after the incident where these creatures arrived, as then it could show that the family had figured out the things they needed to do in order to survive. It was extremely fascinating how they had adapted their lives to live in near total silence (e.g. eating meals on lettuce leaves instead of plates).
The chemistry between John Krasinski's and Emily Blunt's characters was good, which is perhaps unsurprising given that they are a couple in real life, whilst the performances of the children were also effective. Special mention must go to Millicent Simmonds, who is actually deaf like her character, which made her performance believable and added an interesting dynamic to the narrative.
Overall this was a very effective thriller which squeezed everything it could out of the premise, for once actually delivering on an interesting concept. As the film was quite short at 1hr 30mins it was very tight and controlled, which made it even better. Despite the ending being a little bit unsatisfying, John Krasinski has announced himself as an emerging talent and I'll look forward to more of his directorial efforts in the future.