'A Quiet Place' - That's One Way to Get Your Kids to Shut Up

FacebookTwitterPinterestEmailEmailEmailShare
(Jonny Cournoyer/Paramount Pictures)

Is "A Quiet Place" (out now on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD) a horror movie, a sci-fi film, a family drama or a fantasy flick for parents who just can't get their kids to shut up?

It's probably the near future. Monsters with extremely sensitive hearing are killing off everyone who makes a sound. John Krasinski stars alongside his real wife Emily Blunt as Lee and Evelyn Abbott, parents who are trying to raise their children in a world where they can't make any noise.

Krasinski also directed the movie from an inventive script penned by Krasinki, Bryan Woods and Scott Beck. It's produced by Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes company, which is notable because Krasinki's previously starred in Bay's underrated Benghazi movie "13 Hours" and also stars in the company's upcoming Amazon series "Jack Ryan."

The movie was an enormous surprise hit in theaters earlier this year (sort of like "Get Out" was in 2017) and it's plenty violent and bloody for a movie that got away with a PG-13 rating. 

One of the kids is deaf daughter Regan (played by deaf actress Millicent Simmonds) and her condition gave the Abbott family a reason to learn sign language, which gave them a head start when the monsters came. 

After a family tragedy, Evelyn and Lee decide to have another child and have to figure out a way to deliver a baby in a way that the monsters won't hear. The movie is a tight 90 minutes and, while there's very little dialog, there's a lot of family communication going on.

This one's all about the sound design: how can a film tell its story through ambient noise and some well-placed roars and screams. It's not as brutally scary as most contemporary horror movies but the success of "A Quiet Place" proves there's an audience for horror that's a bit less depraved and a little more thoughtful than what we usually get.

There are a handful of special features on this release, but it could've really used a full commentary track from John Krasinski and the other writers.. 

 

Story Continues