Woohoo! It is one of my favourite genres for this week’s review: Supernatural Horror is back on a high note after Winchester missed the mark. (Sorry Dame Mirren!)

The first point I want to mention is the cast of A Quiet Place. There are only 6 actors in the entire film! It focuses on the Abbott family played by John Krasinski (Lee), Emily Blunt (Evelyn), Millicent Simmonds (Regan), and Noah Jupe (Marcus). The only other actors are Cade Woodward, who plays Beau and Leon Russom, who is the aptly named Man in the woods!

This film is clearly a metaphor for family and parenthood. The parents are faced with wanting to protect their children from all the bad in the world but still finding time for themselves. There is a very touching moment where they dance wearing headphones and this is something that you need as a parent – Balance. Krasinski stated “I was like a wide-open nerve…You have all these fears of keeping her safe—am I a good enough person to be her dad?” (Berman, 2018) I believe that as soon as you are handled that bundle of joy you are constantly focused on keeping them safe and being the best for them, and you will sacrifice anything to protect them.

You assume that it is easier for the cast to work on a film like this that has a limited speaking element throughout the film but, it is actually trickier as facial expressions need to express a lot more, especially with these strong familial routes and terror to portray. Not having any screaming was the worst part for me and I don’t want to make a sound in empathy with the characters on screen. There is something unnerving about seeing so much terror on someone face but unable to hear it.

The cast learnt American Sign Language for the film, although Millicent Simmonds is actually deaf herself. She helped to get over the expression in the signing. In an interview John Krasinski was talking about learning how to sign.

“Millie … pointed out that: my character is very shut off and just wants to survive, he’s lost the ability to know and love the beauty in the world. And [his] signing is very curt, it’s very small, it’s very immediate and direct….Emily’s character is all about, we can’t just survive, there has to be beauty in the world. …she’s very warm and she’s bigger and she’s more affectionate in her signing. And Millie’s character….very defiant, it’s very teenage defiant.” (Loughrey, 2018)

The use of silence is used in a lovely way throughout the film. The little details from leaving the crisps on the shop shelves because they are loud to eat, and completely muting the sound when Regan is on screen. Although we aren’t having a Point of View shot, we have a POV sound bite, or lack of.  This was created by using “sound envelopes”.  The sound editors,  Ethan Van Der Ryn and Erik Aadahl, are used to loud pieces, doing the sound for film such as “Transformers”, “Godzilla” and “The Shallows”, but they were up for the challenge. (Murphy, 2018) These Sound Envelopes reflects what each character can hear such as the trees, the leaves and the breeze. This really brings the audience into the film. If you closed your eyes you could feel that you were there, in a similar way to guided imagery works.

The last point I wanted to make was about the Monsters. I think the best way I would describe them is a cross between Alien and a Giant Spider, which is terrifying enough for me, but the poor actors just had to use their imaginations. The monster was not properly designed until post-production. This creates yet another hurdle for the cast to conquer. I was really impressed to learn that the bathtub scene was done in one take! How?!?! I have no clue but fantastic work Mrs Blunt!

I really liked this film from the concept through to completion. The cast are fantastic and with horror as a genre doing well over the past few years, could Oscar nominations be insight? Definitely! This stands up to other films such as “Get Out” and “The Shape Of Water” (Tapley, 2018).

4/5

Works Cited

Berman, E. (2018, April 5). John Krasinski and Emily Blunt on A Quiet Place, Parenting and Their One True Movie Obsession. Retrieved from TIME : http://time.com/5228564/john-krasinski-emily-blunt-a-quiet-place/

Loughrey, C. (2018, April 5). John Krasinski interview: From The Office to horror sensation A Quiet Place – what inspired his surprising career. Retrieved from The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/a-quiet-place-horror-film-interview-john-krasinski-director-cast-inspirations-emily-blunt-a8291026.html

Murphy, M. (2018, April 5). Making the Sound of Silence in ‘A Quiet Place’. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/movies/a-quiet-place-john-krasinski-interview.html

Tapley, K. (2018, April 8). After Oscar Winners ‘Get Out’ and ‘The Shape of Water,’ Could ‘A Quiet Place’ Tickle the Academy’s Genre Fancy? Retrieved from Variety: http://variety.com/2018/film/in-contention/a-quiet-place-oscars-john-krasinski-the-academy-1202747069/

Director:  John Krasinski

Cast: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe

Crew:  Michael Bay (Producer), Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (Screenwriters)

Genre: Supernatural American Horror

Rating: 15