As my wife and I settled into our dollar-movie-theatre seats, I was pleased to recall that yet another sci-fi film had received glowing audience and critical acclaim. Minutes after it started, I realized the reviews don’t give a clue about how good, how intelligent, and how soul-stirring this movie is.
Yes, it’s entertaining, and yes, it breaks conventions. Some of the breaks worked for me. Making it a (mostly) silent movie transformed it into much more that a “scary” movie. And scary it is, with plenty of white-knuckle scenes as a rural family cowers from a blind but ruthless predator that locates and attacks its victims when they make the faintest sound. The scant dialogue revved up the power of the visual tension to nearly unbearable levels. (At one point, a lady a few seats behind me whispered to her husband that she couldn’t take any more, and scampered out of the theatre.) Some of the conventions it broke left me feeling a bit cheated and shocked. Think a tale about a loving family struggling to survive will end without any casualties? The movie breaks that one in the first scene.
So it’s a hard film to watch at times. But “A Quiet Place” is a masterpiece of cinematic storytelling. Also, it tackles some themes head on in ways I found deeply moving and agreeable. It’s a pro-natalist, pro-sociobiology adventure; both the mother and father courageously do what they must to preserve the family. Despite the danger and the sacrifice, the husband and wife decide to have another baby. (And remember – babies cry!) At one point, the mother asks her husband, “Who are we if we can’t protect our children?”
That’s the key question of our age – just as it is in any age.
Excellent review!
I must say though, I am dubious as per a sequel . . .
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Sorryless,
Indeed. My wife and I have debated how it could be done. A prequel maybe? Hmmm.
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That might work . . .
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Great review, Mike, thanks!
–Michael
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And if you don’t have a discount theater in your area that features slightly aged flicks, order the DVD. As I said, it’s a little unnerving, but well done.
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Sounds like a movie I will wait to watch at home on a Friday night . . . that kind of scary is a little much for my timorous brain when beamed at me from a giant screen and Dolby speakers. I’d be that lady in the row behind you 🙂
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Jan,
Yes, and the relative silence only makes you focus more intently on the action, so when the creepy-crawlies strike, you jump. I did.
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Excellent review! Adding to my watch list.
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I absolutely disliked this movie. I think it’s because I’m too much of a realist and that whole having a baby scene, well…I just wasn’t buying it.
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KE Garland,
It’s scary, all right. And like I said, having the entire family in such peril is certainly unsettling.
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