“A Quiet Place” was a thrilling, near-silent film that brilliantly toyed with the audience’s nerves while deftly avoiding all the familiar clichés which come with the horror genre. Director John Krasinski showed surprisingly assured and suspenseful touches as a filmmaker – the film was impressively cinematic and a brilliantly constructed blend of sight and sound.
Set in an aforementioned post-apocalyptic world, “A Quiet Place” had John Krasinski starring alongside his wife Emily Blunt as a couple with their two children (Cade Woodward, Millicent Simmonds) forced to live in a world of near-silence so as to not awaken the mysterious monsters roaming around the woods. Using sign language 24/7 as a means to silently communicate, the technique allowed the family to survive longer than their dearly departed neighbors.
The minute-by-minutes detail in the mechanics of suspense was admirably Hitchcock-ian; Krasinski found ways to make every mute, subtitled interaction count. For a studio-financed endeavor, “A Quiet Place” felt damn-near experimental. And yet, here comes the inevitable sequel. Did we need one? The film did end on an ambiguous note, but I hate hate hate originally conceived box-office hits that decide to sequelize. “A Quiet Place” ended so perfectly that I cringe even watching this trailer. Let’s hope it doesn’t ruin the high of the original.
Here’s the official synopsis for “A Quiet Place Part II”:
Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.
I’ve narrowed down the hundreds upon hundreds of films that will screen this fall to 34 titles—vote for your most anticipated.