Jeri Jacquin
Silently making its way into theatres this Friday from
director John Krasinski via storytellers Bryan Woods and Scott Beck is
Paramount Pictures directions to A QUIET PLACE.
Living in a world built on survival by being silent, Lee
(John Krasinski) and wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) along with sons Beau (Cade
Woodward), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and daughter Regan (Millicent Simmons) are in a
drugstore looking for medications. Young son Beau sees a toy he wants but Dad
Lee explains that it makes noise. He does this by use of sign language as Regan
is deaf.
The whole family communicates now using sign language
because the creatures that hunt them have uber hearing and any sound will bring
them within seconds. On the way home to their farm there is an incident that
changes the family and makes survival even harder. Evelyn is pregnant and the
family finds clever ways to prepare for the new arrival.
Lee takes Marcus out with him to find food and Regan isn't
happy that she isn't asked to go. Feeling that her father doesn’t care about
her, she takes off down the road. Evelyn is alone taking care of the house when
the first sign that the baby is coming and a cry out brings the creatures. She
has only moments to send a signal to the others that there is danger and it all
sends each in another direction trying to redirect the creatures.
From the house to the field, they each use what they have
learned to try and save one another from the creatures that can't see but most
certainly can hear ... every ... sound.
Krasinski as Lee is a man who is continually trying to find
ways to keep his family safe. When there is a moment to breathe, he is working
on a way to help his daughter or showing Marcus how to survive in the creature
infested world. Blunt as Evelyn is in total Mom-mode and certainly takes a quiet childbirth to a whole
new level. This is not the world she ever intended for her children to live in
but knows it's the one they now must survive in.
Simmonds as Regan deals with this world a little differently
than the rest of the family. She doesn't hear the screeching and the loud
presence of the creatures but knows what they are capable of. Jupe as Marcus is
rightfully petrified of the creatures but his father teaches him what he needs
to survive and a secret that might just have given him more courage than he
imagined he had for such a young kid.
So, A QUIET PLACE is truly scary in the sense that there
are only fractions of moments where you hear the actors actually speak, the
rest is sign language and pure adrenaline with every bit of acting on the faces
of the characters. I absolutely loved every second of watching this cast
because of that very reason.
I loved jumping, actually yelled and didn't realize it was
me that yelled, held my breath and didn't realize I was doing it, and felt
amazingly sad for this family. The storyline doesn't start out with any
explanation as to what happened leaving that to the newspaper headlines that
are about in Lee's workshop which means my mind was free to fill in the blanks.
This is actually a yarn spun in such a way that I was
intrigued when the film first sent out the trailers. A film done mostly in
silence? Wow, I knew then it was a film I had to see for myself. The audience
for the screening was totally into every moment of the film and I had an extra
jump as the lady next to me grabbed my arm! The scariest part of the film is
actually seeing the fears that are totally believable by everyone in the
audience unfold on the screen.
Let me make it clear - I would not survive in a silent world
purely because, as I learned during the teen years, trying to be quiet meant
the pressure to make that happen would definitely produce noise (just ask my
sister Ellen!). That being said I also cringed at ever little creak, every
little muffled sound and held my breath with every footstep the family took.
That's what makes an amazing movie going experience - when you unknowingly
become physically invested.
The story didn't give me a moment’s peace and I couldn't
work on my bag of popcorn because I didn't want to be jumped by any creatures!
In the midst of all the silence and insane creepy creatures - the writers and
director Krasinski manages a moment of beauty between Lee and Evelyn and it
made my heart melt. Of course I had to snap out of that quickly and walking out
of the theatre my first thought was that I wanted to see A QUIET PLACE again.
John Krasinski took the story by Woods and Beck and directed
right where it needs to be, straight into our fears. Well played sir, well
played.
In the end - if they can hear you they can hunt you!
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