A Quiet Place Preview

For my 70th movie review, I am excited (although late) to see the critically acclaimed thriller A Quiet Place.  John Krasinski, best known for his role as Jim from the TV series The Office, helped to write the script that was first conceived in 2014.  Krasinski also directed A Quiet Place and stars as one of the few characters in this intense horror story that currently holds an unheard of Rotten Tomatoes "fresh" rating of 95%.

The year is 2020, and some kind of monsters have all but eliminated the human race.  We don't know where they come from or even what they look like from the preview, but that's part of what draws you in.  What we do know is they have hypersensitive hearing, hence the tagline promoting the movie "If they hear you, they hunt you".

Lee Abbott (John Krasinski), wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt), and their two children are the family of survivors we get to know in A Quiet Place.  The preview shows them walking barefoot or in socks to avoid making noises, communicating in sign language, hand washing clothes, playing board games with pieces of cotton to remain as silent as possible as that's how the monsters outside are able to find you.  

In one of the previews, Lee is walking out with his son and they encounter an old man standing alone in the woods.  Lee signals to the man not to make a sound, but he lets out a scream that prompts one of the aliens to attack as Lee and his son run away.  

So, we don't know when the invasion or initial attacks by these aliens took place, we don't know what they look like, we don't know how many other survivors are out there.  We do know that the survivors have learned the aliens track them by sound and appear relatively safe, even out in public, so long as they are silent.  But that's all we know, and yet, I am completely drawn and intrigued by the preview.  I've said it before, it's hard to make a good, smart scary movie anymore.  So much is gimmicks and sound effects and not real content that makes for a good story.  Get Out is the most recent one that comes to mind and that was a rare gem.  A Quiet Place looks just as original.  I'm giving a 4 Star Prediction for this modern horror film.  I really only have two reservations.  First, because the film is based on near total silence, I hope sharp sudden tones or sound effects aren't the sole method of frightening the audience.  Second, because it's aliens, the creatures' realism is going to play an integral part for audiences to fully buy into the film.  But, I love John Krasinski and Emily Blunt and I love a good scary movie.  So I'm hoping this will not only be a truly unique and wonderfully terrifying film, but it is also one that I will be owning in my personal collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.