“A Quiet Place” makes a sound and pays for it

Imagine a world where speaking is dangerous. Where a pen dropping could spell your doom and the smallest sound could cause your demise.

“A Quiet Place” illustrates such a place and as a film shows just how terrifying a world with no sound could be for everyone.

Directed by and starring “The Office” star John Krasinski and his wife Emily Blunt, the film tells the tale of the Abbott family as they try to survive on a rural farm. They follow many rules, but the most important is that they can’t make a sound or they will be found. The family struggles not only with the shadowy creatures that prowl the countryside but also with each other and with how to survive in a world where they can’t make a sound.

The acting in this film elevates the thrills and makes the feature even more terrifying.

Krasinski plays the stern father who is only worried about protecting his family from the monsters that could harm them. Krasinski has elevated himself past the comedic role that launched his career, and “A Quiet Place” shows that he is a diverse actor, and he gives the best performance in the entire film.

Blunt plays the matriarch of the family and, to me, is underused except in one pivotal scene. Blunt plays the standard mother character until the 3rd act where she finally breaks free from the cliche who doesn’t do much and allows the man to do everything. Krasinski is very much the hero of the movie while Blunt is there to just be a side character throughout the entire film, just following her husband and doing minimal things. I wanted her to act as she does at the end: a character that takes charge like Ripley from “Aliens” or Sarah Connor from “The Terminator.”

The kids in the film are allowed to be actual characters but do fall into cliches.

Millicent Simmonds plays Blunt and Krasinski’s deaf daughter who struggles with her parent’s rules and guilt over a past incident. Simmonds is very expressive and, in a movie with almost no speaking at all, is able to hold her own against Blunt and Krasinski. The problem with her performance is that she is not given a lot to work with in the script except pouting and arguing with Krasinski.

Noah Jupe plays the son, and he is more scared than his sister of the world they live in. Jupe is given the best scene in the whole film, in my opinion, where he has a conversation with Krasinski that shows his potential to grow into a seasoned veteran. My only concern with his performance is that like Simmonds, Jupe isn’t given much to do in the film besides cowering or hiding from a creature and I wish he could have done more.

The best thing about the film is the suspense that is built with no sound whatsoever. The film harkens back to classic thrillers such as “Rear Window” where they didn’t need to be flashy and only had to focus on a single idea that elevates the film into something spectacular. Krasinski selects sound perfectly and uses cinematography and even the color of lights to build up the suspense over the 90 minute movie.

“A Quiet Place” is a spectacular thriller that is weighed down by some cliche writing where it could have been something fresh and brand new. The suspense in the film is thrilling but the characters and their clunky characterization ruins a perfect setup.

I give “A Quiet Place” 3.5 out of 5.