**A masterclass in creating tension and suspense, A Quiet Place is the kind of horror film that even appeals to people who don’t like horror films.**

Premise: Three months after savage predatory creatures which hunt by sound have all but wiped out humanity, a family struggle to survive in their remote farmhouse by living a silent existence.

Review:

I wouldn’t necessarily describe myself as a huge fan of horror films generally, especially the ones that rely too heavily on graphic violence (often towards female characters) to paper over a lack of subtly or suspense. That said, I do love good horror films that know how to ratchet up the tension, and A Quiet Place definitely falls into that category.

Right from the off, A Quiet Place plunges the viewer into the stressful, post-apocalyptic existence of the Abbott family, as they creep bare-footed through an abandoned town looking for much needed supplies, including medicine for their sick middle child (played by Noah Jupe). The mother (played by Emily Blunt) tries to soundlessly sort through bottles of pills without making them rattle, and while the father (played by John Krasinski) searches for supplies, the daughter (played by Millicent Simmonds) keeps a silent eye on the youngest child (played by Cade Woodward) as he draws with a soft crayon. During this intense introductory scene you could hear a pin drop in the cinema, and the family’s desperation to remain soundless is palpable, instantly drawing you into their daily struggle.

“…the lack of verbal communication enhances all of the other sound in the film…”

Because the daughter is deaf, the family are already able to communicate using sign language, which also provides a credible explanation for how they have managed to survive the last three months, when the rest of civilisation appears to have been all but wiped out by the sightless alien predators. Millicent Simmonds, who is deaf herself, is fantastic as the daughter, and delivers an incredibly layered performance (even more surprising given that she is only 15 years old). The family’s ability to communicate through sign language is not only central to the plot, it also conveys a surprising amount about the characters themselves (the father, for example, signs in short, urgent messages, while the mother is more expressive), which is very useful for the audience in a film where there is almost no verbal communication.

That said, the movie is by no means a “silent film” – if anything, the lack of verbal communication only enhances all of the other sound in the film. You find yourself drawn in and picking up on every little sound – a rustle of leaves here, a squeaky sign blowing in the wind there – and you become so “hyper-sensitive” to the sound that when something gets unexpectedly knocked over, it seems deafening. The film also cuts back and forth between the daughter’s perspective (where everything is truly silent, except for the background hum of her broken cochlear implant) and the rest of the family’s, which highlights just how much we hear even in “silence”.

“…almost Hitchcockian in terms of the sustained levels of tension and suspense…”

The film is carried by a very small cast, and real-life couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt in particular are terrific as the desperate parents trying to keep their family safe in an impossible situation. I was already aware of Emily Blunt’s range as an actress (and I’m a big fan of her work in Looper and Edge of Tomorrow), but I must confess that until now, I’ve really only known John Krasinski for his comedy work in the American version of The Office, so his performance in A Quiet Place really took me by surprise. The central theme of the film is family (and in particular, the lengths parents will go to in order to protect their children), and between the tense set-pieces, what really elevates the film are the surprisingly emotional character moments.

What’s just as impressive as the acting is that John Krasinski also directed (and co-wrote) the film, and although he had directed two low-budget dramedies previously, this was his first venture into sci-fi or horror. A Quiet Place is the kind of film that could so easily have been a missed opportunity in the hands of a less accomplished director, but John Krasinski manages to craft a film that is almost Hitchcockian in terms of the sustained levels of tension and suspense. Right from the powerful opening scene, John Krasinski takes a concept that could have easily become just another straight-to-DVD B-movie about blind aliens that hunt by sound, and instead crafted a modern masterpiece that people will be talking about for years.

“…intelligent, tense, gripping and emotional…”

Much as I superficially enjoyed some of the recent sci-fi/horror films like Life or The Cloverfield Paradox, A Quiet Place is in an entirely different league from those films. If you’re not generally a fan of “horror” films, don’t let that put you off seeing A Quiet Place, as some might even argue that it’s not really a “horror” film (depending on what that label means to you). There’s very little graphic violence, for example, and the film also avoids many of the typical horror genre tropes, focusing instead on the strong bonds between the family members. That said, when the creatures do finally emerge from the shadows in the final act, their design is impressively unsettling and otherworldly, easily holding its own against other recent movie monsters.

But whatever genre label you want to give it, A Quiet Place is a fantastic film that goes to prove that it is still possible to create a film that is original, technically brilliant and commercially successful (since opening in the States two weekends ago, it’s already made over $150m worldwide against an estimated budget of around $20m). Intelligent, tense, gripping and emotional, this is one of the best “non-blockbuster” films I’ve seen in a long time. I loved every minute of it, from the nerve-racking prologue to the memorable final shot, and the film's really stayed with me in the days since I first saw it.