An interesting premise but why let Michael Bay get involved?!

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2018)

A family of survivors of an unknown catastrophe must avoid detection from fast, aggressive and hostile creatures who hunt those still alive based on sound.
As with many horror films, you tend to know the scares. They announce themselves with long drawn-out scenes of silence in creepy environments only to have the hero open a creaky door and come face to face with the ghost/ monster/ whatever and we all get jump-scared by a screenwriter who's run out of ideas. Not so with A Quiet Place, since the entire film is the tense silent build up (most of the dialogue is done in sign language with only one or two scenes featuring a spoken word) and the pay offs come in the relief-giving form of their continued safety in the face of a violent death.
A point definitely worth noting is that Millicent Simmonds, who plays the eldest child who is also profoundly deaf, is actually deaf in real life. Krasinski has said in interviews he sought a deaf actress for the role to help his knowledge of the situations in the film and how sound can affect them. There are brilliant moments as the scene switches perspective between characters and hers is totally devoid of all sound - no birds singing, to water running, no leaves rustling - which puts her in considerable danger at times when the creatures are on the hunt. We feel her unease thanks to the viewer experience outside the film - of sitting in a packed cinema which is in total silence, the people sat behind me barely getting through three kernels of popcorn for fear of making any kind of sound. It was an eerie experience that defies explanation.
The only fly in the ointment is that Michael Bay produced this. No ... seriously. The man who brought you such explosions as Armageddon, Bad Boys and the Transformers debacle also helped bring this uniquely intriguing (and decidedly unfirebally) spectacle to the masses. The only suspicion that he had a hand in it comes with the final 15 seconds of the film (if you've seen it, you know exactly what I'm talking about). It comes out of nowhere and almost entirely changes the tone of the film to suit the ridiculous sequel I'm sure is coming (given how it left off, maybe even directed by Bay himself?). I can only hope they see sense and, if they are to do one, keep the sequel in the same vein as this brilliantly original idea and simply build upon what they've already established and expand the interesting world they've created.
Best Quote: "Who are we if we can't protect them? We have to protect them."