Warning: spoilers ahead. A Quiet Place is a movie that not only gives its viewers chills but engages them in jaw dropping drama. It is a thrill ride that will quicken the heart rates of everyone in the audience and play with their expectations throughout. The Abbott family tries to survive in an unknown world with only sign language as their form of communication.
A Quiet Place follows a family who has made a peaceful life for themselves considering they are under the constant, inescapable threat of death. The movie begins as the Abbott family, husband Lee (John Krasinski), wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt), sons Marcus (Noah Jupe), Beau (Cade Woodward), and deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) are silently scavenging for supplies in a store. Beau shows his dad a toy airplane he finds and wants to get. Lee warns him that it makes too much noise so he puts it down and takes out the batteries. However, Regan returns the toy to Beau, who secretly puts the batteries back in and takes it with him. On their way home, Beau turns on the toy causing a loud noise. Lee instantly begins to run to Beau but a creature appears and slaughters Beau before Lee can reach him.
This is not like any other horror movie. It begins 89 days into what is going on and gives the audience no background information. The viewer must figure out what is going on for themselves and make sense of it. It isn’t another one of those horror films that relies on dramatic scares and cheap theatrics. “I don’t usually like horror movies but the A Quiet Place was not like every other horror movie I’ve seen and it was actually really cool,” freshman Danielle Berman said.
During the movie, Lee takes Marcus to a nearby river to teach him to fish and does not let Regan, go causing her to get mad and storm away from their home. While they are fishing, Lee explains to Marcus that they will always be safe as long as louder sounds mask their audible movements. Back at their home, Evelyn goes into labor. Before she gets into the bathtub to give birth, she manages to turn on the house lights from white to red to warn Lee of the danger. She manages to stay quiet during the contractions but is not able to stay quiet for much longer. Lee instructs Marcus to set off fireworks as a diversion for him to get to Evelyn and so she is safe as she has the baby. “My favorite scene of the movie was how scary it was when Evelyn was giving birth and Lee had to get to her without making any noise,” junior Abby Feitel said.
The aspect of family is a big part of what makes this movie unique. The family survives through their teamwork and bravery, even though they are scared and unsure of what will happen. The movie sadly ends with Lee screaming in order to get the attention of the creature away from his kids. Tears begin to roll and hearts begin to ache as this loving father gives up his life for his kids. The creature leaves the kids alone and instantly slaughters Lee. “Horror movies tend to never make people cry but this movie had a different approach and was very sad,” sophomore Jonathan Lee said.
The movie carries constant suspense. It is tense, terrifying and manages to keep the viewer’s eyes stuck to the screen. Despite the terror it also is a movie that portrays the power of love and family.
Jordan Rubin
