A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

‘A Quiet Place’ is a terrific piece of horror cinema that takes an intriguing premise and fully delivers on its promise to craft an intense, nerve-wracking thriller that had me gripped from the outset. The film takes place a few years in the future when the planet has been overrun by alien creatures who hunt by sound, albeit they cannot see. This leads us to the Abbott family who spend their days scavenging for supplies, attempting to build a soundproof shelter and communicating via sign language and whispers. The film is not a silent movie although it feels like it at times, but the silence is what gives the power to the premise and you could literally cut the tension with a knife at any given moment. John Krasinski (who also stars) has only directed a couple of films before ‘A Quiet Place’ (and nothing of any note), yet this is a deeply assured feature from a filmmaker with a terrific handle on his material.

Krasinski is Lee Abbott, the family patriarch trying to keep his family alive alongside his pregnant wife Evelyn (played by Krasinski’s real life wife, Emily Blunt). Their two young kids are played by up and comers Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds (who is also deaf like her character), and the four actors are all incredibly good, with special mention to Simmonds who I thought was outstanding. The lack of sound and need to be quiet means many things are left unspoken between the characters and we get a real sense for the bleakness of the situation they find themselves in. The initial sequence of the film brutally establishes the stakes and I felt the film did a superb job of balancing its scares with genuine feeling and characters we cared about. It’s well crafted, with excellent sound design and a sparse score that ensures the rare moments where sound punctuates through the silence are all the more forceful.

‘A Quiet Place’ is an accomplished horror thriller from John Krasinski, a nerve shredding tale of a family determined to survive against insurmountable odds, using the power of silence to make its mark. I thought it was terrifically well made with good performances and I really, really liked it.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: John Krasinski

Starring: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6644200/