A limp thriller low on thrills

Rating: 4/10 (7 April 2018)

On a technical level, A Quiet Place is competent. It's a decently shot movie with good sound and set design. The acting is good. The premise is fine. Yet, I found myself not caring about anything going on.
One thing this movie keeps getting lauded for is its atmosphere and tension, both of which left me wanting. Scenes come and go at a quick pace, which doesn't leave enough time for any sense of dread to really sink in. The characters were all flat and constantly acted irrationally, which made it tough for me to really care about what happened to them. The final nail was the monsters, which looked so silly and generic that the only reason to fear them showing up was the possibility of another dull cast member getting offed.
All that's left is a perfectly generic slog devoid of passion and emotion, one which inspired only the occasional snicker in the audience I saw it with.
Maybe I'm just jaded as hell, but I was never scared, sad, shocked, worried, or even entertained throughout A Quiet Place. It's tough for me to recommend, but parents and/or younger teens might get more out of it than a childless horror buff in his mid twenties.