I loved John Krasinki’s “A Quiet Place,” which received critical acclaim when it opened in theaters back in April of 2018 (it even made my ten best list that year), but don’t say that to Richard Brody of The New Yorker.
Brody’s review of Auteur Krasinski’s film (“The Silently Regressive Politics of ‘A Quiet Place'”) accused it of being the whitest voice in film since the release of Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” which had been released just a year prior. “As horror films go, it’s the antithesis of ‘Get Out,'” Brody wrote, “inasmuch as its symbolic realm is both apparently unconscious and conspicuously regressive.” The review criticized “A Quiet Place” for its central narrative about a white family with guns protecting their home from “a bunch of big, dark, stealthy, predatory creatures.”
Anyway, one person clearly irked by that review was Krasinski himself, who, in a new Esquire interview, not only denies any kind of political statement being made in his 2018 movie but says that, quite simply, he wanted to tell a story about parenthood and the promise that you make to your kids to keep them safe no matter what.
“I never saw it that way or ever thought of it until it was presented to me in that way,” Krasinski said of Brody’s review. “It wasn’t about being, you know, silent and political time that had nothing to do with that. If anything it was about, you know, going into the dark and, and taking a chance when all hope looked lost, you take, you know, you fight for what’s most important to you. Again, my whole metaphor was solely about parenthood.”
Brody was obviously overreaching in his analysis of Krasinski’s film. This coming from someone who admires his writings and believes that for the most part, whenever he doesn't delve into wokester/SJW mode, his film criticism can be among the best around. However, these last few years, with Brody it's all about inclusion and representation. As I’ve mentioned before, the addition of identity politics into movie reviewing is very dangerous. It fits into a current trend in the field that has writers putting politics and cultural sensitivities ahead of pure honesty. Post-Modernism and Political Theory have snuck into film criticism and it looks like they're here to stay.
Paramount Pictures is releasing “A Quiet Place Part II” in theaters nationwide on March 20th.