A Quiet Place: Review

This is a NON-Spoiler review for A Quiet Place. You should know up front that you should avoid the trailers for this movie as much as possible and just go see it. There were quite a few things that I knew were coming because I remembered the moments from the trailer. Just go see it. It's worth your time. And it's 100% a movie that needs to be seen in the theater.

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

Alright....I am not a horror guy. I've only seen a handful of movies that would qualify as horror movies. I personally prefer not to watch movies that are as dark as most horror movies have the reputation for. I've actually spent more time watching comedy that makes fun of the horror cliches (which is why I found Get Out a little cheesy). But there are some exceptions for ones that I enjoy. I love the Alien franchise for example. I actually saw Life from last year with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds and I was sweating in the theater. I chose not review it because I felt that I wasn't experienced enough in this genre to be the best judge of the intensity. So I will never see movies like "It". I refuse to watch movies with demon monsters like Pennywise. But when it goes into more of a sci-fi perspective, I'm opened to the idea if I hear it's good. And the monster in A Quiet Place is much more like the Xenomorphs than like Pennywise. And as a lot of you probably have, I've heard endless good word of mouth about this movie. I really like John Krasinski and I thought the concept was fascinating. So I grew some guts and I saw it. And I REALLY enjoyed it.

So as I said, I am not experienced in this genre. So I am not the best judge of how scary this movie is. But what I can tell you is that I found myself very tense....quite....a.....bit. Is this the scariest movie I've ever seen? No. But I think everyone will be satisfied with the scares. I think if I were to grade this movie on horror alone, I'd give it a B+. It's very good horror but I wouldn't call it masterful. But what makes this movie stand out to me is the characters. Honestly, I am really sick of saying that a movie is great because it's character driven.

Let me begin a little rant. A rantlet. - There's much more to screenwriting than just characters. Good character is the most basic idea of what makes a great story. But there are so many movies that come out that don't seem to understand that. I'm tired of movies coming out that are made by filmmakers that can't seem to understand that characters are what stories are built on. There are some exceptions though - Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk. But none of the garbage we're used to seeing nowadays seem to understand what good story is. And saying a story is character driven should be a no-brainer. That's like one of the first rules you learn about screenwriting. So thank you John Krasinski for understanding the basic rule of building a story around the characters. Because that is way too scarce in movies today. And hopefully, this movie will show studios to make movies about people and not explosions. And it's odd that I say that about a movie that is produced by MICHAEL BAY. This concludes my rant.

I cared about this family. I was deeply invested in the dynamics between them. There are a couple of moments that made me begin to think about crying. If John Krasinski weren't the director, I would have said that he's perfectly cast. John Krasinski has that feeling and look about him that's just the all American normal guy that you love to root for. And when you make him an ultra-protective father, you really love his character and feel comforted by him. This movie makes you feel like you’re one of his kids. I loved his character as if he were my father. I currently feel the need to go and find John Krasinski and hug him.

The whole cast is great. John Krasinski and Emily Blunt play a very believable couple. Almost as if they are.....hmm. And Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe play their kids. And they're both great in this movie. The acting is just great all around. So the acting and the relationships between the characters is very believable and you're invested. But I wouldn't use words like "perfect" or "masterful" for the writing. There were a couple of story beats that I could think of ways to improve. But there is no doubt that it is very well done. I did say that I thought about crying in a couple of moments. I was never bored watching (not listening) these characters. The only technical complaint that I have is really the score. I thought it was definitely useful for the dramatic scenes. But throughout most of the horror scenes, I thought it would have been better without the score. I never felt that enhanced any of the moments. I think it would have been really cool to keep it silent.

And as far as John Krasinski's directing skills, I definitely want to see what's next. Apparently, he's doing a sci-fi movie next. Yes....please. He directed great performances from the cast that includes both him and his wife and an actually deaf actress. So as far as performances, he knocked it out of the park. And he built the story and characters with no dialogue. And there is no way that is easy. And I think he built some of the best suspense I've seen in a while. But I did think there were some flaws about the movie as well. Some scenes I think could have been staged a bit differently. I don't LOVE the design of the monsters. I feel like I've seen a similar design before. But I think throughout a lot of this movie, John Krasinski followed the Jaws rule. You've probably heard it before, whenever we see the monster less, it leaves it to our imagination and we're more scared. I like to call it the Jaws rule. Spielberg would probably argue that it should be called the Hitchcock rule. Anyways.......So the monster stays hidden throughout a lot of the movie. I liked it and I think it works, but I think I the design could have been better.

So I was very satisfied but not blown away by this movie. It's a very tense and suspenseful movie that builds its characters. I didn't exactly find it super clever with the monster or with the scares. But because it's good suspense and I cared about the characters, I found myself wanting to say to the monster "Would you PLEASE JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE?!" And I think that's the sign of a really good movie. I think this is definitely a story that's worth experiencing. It's a great thrill ride that delivers on this great premise. Great job John Krasinski. My grade for A Quiet Place is an A-