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So this isn’t a review yet as I'm going to see this tonight, and I got to say I'm pretty damn excited. I haven’t been this excited about a new horror since The VVitch.
Great cast, excellent premise, and the trailer looks fantastic. It also seems to be rating very well.
Watched it the other day. Well worth the price of admission.
I thought it was a little slow to begin with (after one pivotal scene) but then it took off nicely.
Never experienced a quieter audience in a theatre. The film has a strange knock-on affect of making you stay quiet.
Krasinski did a great job of directing and, (apparently) rewriting a script/story based on an original script by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. I've read the original script which comes in around 60 something pages. The finished product is much improved on the original idea, now a collaborative effort.
Emily Blunt is always a solid actor imh, and the kids did well too.
The sound design is terrific and the film looks great.
Not for lovers of gore this one, but I prefer suspense anyway. 4 out of 5. Very enjoyable.
P.S. The original script was read and reviewed on Scriptshadow by Carson and I kept reading after the cinema release that JK wrote it, hence my note above. Wonder how much the original writers got for the concept/story.
The beginning was a bit dull, partly due to the quiet thing, and the end was lame Imo. The middle but was a decent creature flick and I really felt for Emily Blunt.
It was worth the admission for her alone.
I didn't find it tense, as the fact that they were quiet meant there was no character development so I could only empathise with them on a fairly low level. The only time I was really engaged with them is with Blunt when she was going through her "thing".
They always say that films are just about picking a character and giving them a bad day... Well that was one bad day.
It was hard to buy that these things would be so hard to defeat. Ultimately all you'd have to do was put a stereo on a wire over a big hole and they'd run right in.
Any kind of cage, trap, volcano, hole with a stereo inside would do and the idea that the military had not tried different frequencies in them before when all they can do is hear was a bit silly.
But it was OK. An average story elevated by a good cast, especially Blunt, and decent production.
Just saw it two nights ago and I was very happy with it, not blown away to the moon, but...
SPOILER
SPOILER!!!
They all definitely still died in the end. Blowing out their ear drums(or whatever) didn’t actually kill them, and I don’t remember seeing a large quantity of shotgun shells laying around. Plus, Ma just gave birth and neither kid has the ability to care for the family like Dad.
SPOILER OVER
The lighting was superb in this film, but I love the use of a heavy red key light in any movie. I think the sound design could of been pulled back a bit. Like great, no dialogue so you need to rely on other sounds to tell the story, but that doesn’t mean those sounds all have to be as emphatic as they made them. It’s kind of me splitting hairs, and I’m not making million dollar blockbusters so who knows, it seemed forced on multiple occasions that noises were so front and center.
The novelty of making emphatic noise a staple part of this movies diet is not lost on me. I think it could of been more brilliantly fine tuned is all.
Overall, I felt connected to the characters, and isn’t that all that matters?
It was brilliantly simple. Perfectly cast. Kept us on the edge of our seats. I LOVED it. Best horror I've seen in a long while. The only thing I thought was a bit hokey was the monsters/alien/spider things.
I generally liked it, but it wasn't without its issues for me.
Pros: -Quite well made, with good performances all-round. -Good visuals. -Thrilling sequences. -Relatable characters who make mistakes and cower, but are also resourceful and commit heroic deeds in equal measure. All of the characters in the film are good, and all of them are very well-portrayed. -Intriguing enough backbone for the story. Unfortunately, that's also where the cons begin.
Cons: -Cheap jump scares. -Movie plays it too safe. It offers absolutely nothing new besides the (relative) lack of verbal communication, and even that idea is undermined by the fact that there's still constant dialogue in sign language anyway. -Story is a fragile house of cards that falls apart even if you try not to think about it. Do NOT give this film even a little bit of thought--the experience will be ruined for you, because the movie's setting just doesn't hold up at all. Some obvious issues for me were: -If the monsters' weakness is the screechy noise from the hearing aid, are we really expected to think the military wouldn't immediately exploit the hell out of it? It's not exactly subtle or hard to figure out--the creatures even have a huge frikkin' ear canal-looking thing on their head. The creatures are obviously extremely sensitive to sound. The fact that they kill one with a shotgun is also ridiculous, if these creatures supposedly conquered the world. There also don't seem to be that many of them (only 3 in a given area from what we know). -Hearing aids don't work as portrayed in the film at all. This is less suspension of disbelief and more about the writer completely misunderstanding or being willfully ignorant about how those things work. If you know a deaf person, it completely takes you out of the film. -Ending is a total lie. It's played as a sort of hurrah moment, (complete with a knowing, triumphant grin by Emily Blunt) but the reality is that they will all die... and it's not even close, with the baby constantly giving them away, not enough bullets, two kids to watch out for, father dead, etc. -Who the hell brings a baby into the world when monsters who kill by sound are around? I mean, fuck. Even if it was an oopsie, that doesn't paint the protags in a good light. With 3 kids of their own, it comes across as grossly irresponsible.
The glaring issues with the plot seem to be a result of combining ambition with simplicity, which is where horror thrives. The movie's not simple or mysterious in the same way Halloween or Alien is... rather, it tries to do too much to achieve the same results as those films. The difference is that Halloween and Alien knew their limitations and turned them into strengths, where A Quiet Place doesn't know what its strengths and weaknesses are, instead coming across as a bit stilted.
I don't regret watching it at all. It was a decent horror flick, but like I said, it's "fragile".
Well, well, well...maybe horror isn't dead after all! What a great flick we have here. Actually, it's great in just about every way, and that's saying quite a bit.
I saw it in Dolby and boy am I glad I did! The sound was just amazing, and the picture crystal clear. Normally, I wouldn't pay double for Dolby, but I didn't realize the time I chose was Dolby, so I forked over 10 bones.
Simple story here, just done to perfection. Great acting all the way around. Great creature FX - truly scary as shit. Intense action...even when there isn't any action.
Krasinski nailed this one and he's taking it all to the bank, with almost $210 Million at the WWBO already.
See this in the theater. If possible, see it in an empty theater. You will jump and you will be scared.
Never experienced a quieter audience in a theatre. The film has a strange knock-on affect of making you stay quiet.
The only way I'm ever going to end up in a theater showing a horror movie is if I'm chased there by someone wearing a hockey mask... but I asked a coworker who did see it, and she confirmed that the audience was quiet as if they might somehow attract the monsters.
The only way I'm ever going to end up in a theater showing a horror movie is if I'm chased there by someone wearing a hockey mask...
You're safe with this one I assure you. I'm a wimp when it comes to horror - walked out of my own lounge room while hubby was watching Belko Experiment - too much gratuitous mindless violence. I mistakenly thought it would be more psychological horror.
A Quiet Place is well worth seeing at the cinema. Low on gore, big on suspense.
It's not so much squeamishness (though the I still get the heebie-jeebies thinking about the scalpel attacks in Pet Cemetery), just that I don't enjoy the genre enough to pay theater prices to see it.
I generally liked it, but it wasn't without its issues for me.
Pros: -Quite well made, with good performances all-round. -Good visuals. -Thrilling sequences. -Relatable characters who make mistakes and cower, but are also resourceful and commit heroic deeds in equal measure. All of the characters in the film are good, and all of them are very well-portrayed. -Intriguing enough backbone for the story. Unfortunately, that's also where the cons begin.
Cons: -Cheap jump scares. -Movie plays it too safe. It offers absolutely nothing new besides the (relative) lack of verbal communication, and even that idea is undermined by the fact that there's still constant dialogue in sign language anyway. -Story is a fragile house of cards that falls apart even if you try not to think about it. Do NOT give this film even a little bit of thought--the experience will be ruined for you, because the movie's setting just doesn't hold up at all. Some obvious issues for me were: -If the monsters' weakness is the screechy noise from the hearing aid, are we really expected to think the military wouldn't immediately exploit the hell out of it? It's not exactly subtle or hard to figure out--the creatures even have a huge frikkin' ear canal-looking thing on their head. The creatures are obviously extremely sensitive to sound. The fact that they kill one with a shotgun is also ridiculous, if these creatures supposedly conquered the world. There also don't seem to be that many of them (only 3 in a given area from what we know). -Hearing aids don't work as portrayed in the film at all. This is less suspension of disbelief and more about the writer completely misunderstanding or being willfully ignorant about how those things work. If you know a deaf person, it completely takes you out of the film. -Ending is a total lie. It's played as a sort of hurrah moment, (complete with a knowing, triumphant grin by Emily Blunt) but the reality is that they will all die... and it's not even close, with the baby constantly giving them away, not enough bullets, two kids to watch out for, father dead, etc. -Who the hell brings a baby into the world when monsters who kill by sound are around? I mean, fuck. Even if it was an oopsie, that doesn't paint the protags in a good light. With 3 kids of their own, it comes across as grossly irresponsible.
The glaring issues with the plot seem to be a result of combining ambition with simplicity, which is where horror thrives. The movie's not simple or mysterious in the same way Halloween or Alien is... rather, it tries to do too much to achieve the same results as those films. The difference is that Halloween and Alien knew their limitations and turned them into strengths, where A Quiet Place doesn't know what its strengths and weaknesses are, instead coming across as a bit stilted.
I don't regret watching it at all. It was a decent horror flick, but like I said, it's "fragile".
Good review, and I agree on all points.
The monsters made no sense at all. They would be extremely easy to corral and then to exterminate by even a small band of military.
An automated weapon, or a bomb with a speaker system would take care of them in an afternoon.
It might make sense if it was set in the past, or in an alien environment where the settlers didn't have weapons or access to speaker systems.
But being set in contemporary earth, it was a plot hole so massive it was difficult to ignore.
-If the monsters' weakness is the screechy noise from the hearing aid, are we really expected to think the military wouldn't immediately exploit the hell out of it?
-Hearing aids don't work as portrayed in the film at all. This is less suspension of disbelief and more about the writer completely misunderstanding or being willfully ignorant about how those things work. If you know a deaf person, it completely takes you out of the film.
Well, first of all, you have to understand that these 2 comments are actually in error, as there aren't any hearing aids in the entire movie.
From IMDB - "The device Reagan wears is not a hearing aid, but a cochlear implant. Hearing impairment usually involves damage or underdevelopment of the cochlea, which translates vibrations in the air into nerve impulses that the brain perceives as sound."
Now, does this even matter? Would a homemade cochlear implant really do anything, as portrayed here? Who knows, but I don't think one should try and delve so deep here about the why's and how's.
It's a solid movie that works exactly as intended. Enjoy it for that.
1) It has less jump scares than the standard Blumhouse, i.e. current mainstream horror. Instead it builds tension and makes you feel for the characters and their situation. 2) The movie kills a sympathetic child character in the opening sequence, has very little dialogue and a limited location in which the action unfolds... I don't think any of those are playing it safe in normal Hollywood terms. 3) The military may be fighting back somewhere, but not here, the movie doesn't explain where the monsters came from or what's going on elsewhere in the world... but we do know there are other survivors. 4) Three in the area is a point I think intentionally made in the film so that the end for the family could well be survival, for the time being. But the ending can also be read that they don't, it's ambiguous and leaves it to the audience to decide. 5) Who brings a baby into the world, well a couple grieving the loss of their son who, are resourceful and think they have a plan to make it work may well make that choice.
For me, this is one of the best horror movies of recent times and when I watched it in a packed cinema the tension was palpable... not something I've seen very often.
[quote=AnthonyCawood]Reaper... we all have our opinions but...
1) It has less jump scares than the standard Blumhouse, i.e. current mainstream horror. Instead it builds tension and makes you feel for the characters and their situation. 2) The movie kills a sympathetic child character in the opening sequence, has very little dialogue and a limited location in which the action unfolds... I don't think any of those are playing it safe in normal Hollywood terms. 3) The military may be fighting back somewhere, but not here, the movie doesn't explain where the monsters came from or what's going on elsewhere in the world... but we do know there are other survivors. 4) Three in the area is a point I think intentionally made in the film so that the end for the family could well be survival, for the time being. But the ending can also be read that they don't, it's ambiguous and leaves it to the audience to decide. 5) Who brings a baby into the world, well a couple grieving the loss of their son who, are resourceful and think they have a plan to make it work may well make that choice.
For me, this is one of the best horror movies of recent times and when I watched it in a packed cinema the tension was palpable... not something I've seen very often./quote]
Re the 'decision' to bring another child into the world:
We don't know this was planned.
Actually, I thought she was pregnant before the other little one died.
Then there's contraception availability in the time of an alien invasion. It would have been boring and silly to listen to them having a family planning conversation under the waterfall.
You can pick any movie apart re logic etc. And the good ones are few and far between for me at the mo'. Sometimes you've gotta just go with it, and sit back and enjoy the ride.
Yes this was brilliant and that friggin nail in the step.....Why didnt anyone pull it out after it was eventually used? how very mean to have left it there for us to worry about for the rest of the movie... on top of everything else....
"Turn that off, our friend has just been killed in a fatal sunlight accident!"....
Just saw this. It was short and the first half was dragging, IMO. It also seemed the sequencing way of writing was a bit too apparent. Almost made the first half seem like four shorts.
It picked up halfway, but IMHO, the sound editing was really the star here. I can imagine it being much more effective on a big screen in a theater with loud sound.
Lots and lots of stupid things in this movie though like why was that nail sticking out on the stairs suddenly there? You'd think with the boards marked where to step, someone would've removed that...long time ago.
In short, not bad, but not exactly something I'll watch a second time either.
Libby, if you see this, would you mind sending me that script?
The origins of “A Quiet Place” date back to our college years, as we became obsessed with the silent cinema of Charlie Chaplin, F.W. Murnau, Buster Keaton, and Jacques Tati.
Quoted Text
The script began writing itself, first as a 15-page proof of concept to help us test this crazy idea. The short contained all of the basic movements featured in the final film: the setup, the characters, the creature, the family dynamics, the pregnancy, and the finale beat-for-beat. This process energized us so much, that we forged ahead writing the feature version.
Quoted Text
Writing a silent movie isn’t easy. [...]. This process forced us to take an unorthodox approach to screenwriting, in which we threw formatting styles to the wind. An example: for the monopoly scene (as seen in the trailer), we photoshopped our own Monopoly board into a script page. Other times, a single word surrounded by white graced an entire page to emphasize a loud sound.
Quoted Text
Our first pass of the script clocked in at 67 pages with only one line of dialogue. Make no mistake; we knew this was a weird screenplay.
This one was suspenful and atmospheric. The best horror film I've seen in a long while.
However, you could drive a train through the logic issues. Starting with why not birth the baby by the waterfall where the Monsters can't hear you? Hell, why not even set up camp there? Why not Blare loud music everywhere to distract them? At the end - if a shotgun blast could seriously wound these creatures why isn't everyone carrying guns 7-24? Why put sound proofing material on the walkways but not soundproof the house?? Finally, did no one see the connection to Mars Attacks? Same solution.
Sorry, not for me. While the acting was stellar, there were too many logic issues and obvious solutions not used to trap and kill these beings.
Last add - I think they missed one opportunity. A scene where the wife first discovers she's pregnant and shares that with the husband.
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A Quiet Place - 2018
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The film has a strange knock-on affect of making you stay quiet. 
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