Intense, suspenseful and horrifying

Rating: 9/10 (23 January 2019)

In a post-apocalyptic world where monsters with an incredible sense of hearing hunted every living being that made a sound, a family of four struggles with everyday tasks, being as silent as possible. As a newborn is on his way, they must find a way to distract the creatures, but not everything goes according to plan so they'll soon be fighting for their own survival.
It's a movie which comes with an interesting premise and develops its plot and characters around it. The story seems simple at first glance, but the producers managed to create a very interesting environment in which plenty of thrilling, suspenseful and also scary events take place. Its characters are complex and described slowly as time goes by, making themselves likeable and easy to empathize with. There's little to complain in terms of story and characters. They seem so well linked together that it's a delight to see the final result. The finale is also very well thought, pretty much unpredictable as the rest of the film, providing satisfaction with its arrival.
Opposite to ordinary horror movies which use mainly the much hated (by me) jump-scares, this one builds upon its suspense and horror with intelligence, making you feel the drama and the upcoming danger. The monsters are horrifying and also well drawn, being credible and contributing decisively to the dark atmosphere that this movie tries to depict.
In terms of visuals, everything looks credible. The sense of immersion is great, everything seems to be like it should while the CGI does its job really well in terms of predator description. The sound also plays a very important role, having a big impact on each sequence, especially when danger is imminent.
My only complaint about this movie can be regarding the apocalypse aspect. Unfortunately, it's not very well explained, as well as the characters' origins. You don't have any idea what happened before, what they used to do or something about their professions. It gives a hint or two about the event from time to time through some newspapers or billboards but nothing precise. I understand that it isn't important as far as the events from the movie are concerned but a minute of a brief explanation couldn't have hurt anybody. We're talking about a pure personal preference here, thus some may easily discard it.
As a conclusion, it's a movie which I really enjoyed. You can see that it was well thought and very well put together. The characters are great, the plot is good while the emotions it generates are intense, both in terms of horror and drama. It's a very good movie and I think the final result really speaks for itself. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the small cast the movie has does a wonderful job in terms of acting and once again, it shows.