Engagingly simple thriller although not quite gripping enough to make you blind to the odd weak point

Rating: Null/10 (9 March 2019)

Much talked about, this near-silent film is set many months after humanity has been nearly wiped out by some form of creatures which hunt by sound. The Abbott family silently survive with their 3 children, and a fourth on the way; although the pressure to prepare for the birth and survive the day is significant. The simplicity of the film is its main selling point; beyond newspaper headlines there is no backstory or development of the situation but instead we have the rules and the stakes laid out very clearly in the first few minutes. Within this frame we have a family struggling to survive and stay together as a group despite terrible loss and situation; so it is making us care for the characters while also stripping out all the things that would take us away from them if we chased a bigger world picture.
Mostly it plays it out very well, making for a tense and silent affair which doesn't resort to too many empty jump scares. Things get weaker as the film forces events and situations for the sake of drama, as well as being fine with plot holes/weaknesses that they need to make those things happen. The flooded basement is one example, but the ending is the one that bugs me most as it transforms the female lead character into something she isn't, and has an odd 'kick ass' tone to it that doesn't fit with the rest of the film. It is a shame because it is an enjoyable dark and lean film up till that point, but neither the handling of the baby or the ending really ring true within the context of the rest of the film. Good performances and well enough put together though - worth a look as long as you know it is not the classic that the hype suggested.