There is a not-so-long history of actors who have made extraordinary debuts as directors. Heading right to the front of the class is John Krasinski with his searing and stunning sizzler, A Quiet Place. 1980’s Ordinary People announced the arrival of Robert Redford. 2002 found George Clooney helming Confessions of a Dangerous Mind while 2007 saw Ben Affleck resuscitate his career with his directing hurricane that was Gone Baby Gone. Then in 2013, Lake Bell gave us the stellar In a World. Lastly, and this is the one that shares a lot of parallels to the new-to-Blu-Ray A Quiet Place, a horror-ific Get Out announced to the world that Jordan Peele (he won an Oscar for the effort) was a force of creative nature.
Both Get Out and A Quiet Place utilize horror as the medium to tell the tale. But each film actually finds itself comfortable echoing various other genres of film in its triumphant telling of a tale that goes deep as it scares, thrills and enthralls its audience.
A Quiet Place chronicles an America where life is adjusting to a post-apocalyptic world. What remains of our planet is haunted by alien creatures with the keenest of hearing. They will strike anyone making the slightest sound and therefore, everyone lives in silence. Parents Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Lee Abbott (Krasinski) are doing their best raising their kids, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Beau (Cade Woodward).
It’s tough, no question. They play games in silence. They cook in silence. They have learned sign language, so communicating is without sound. Where the family even places their feet when they walk is marked, knowing that those small sites are quiet. It is a way of life and one that is riddled with infinite challenges that if not abided by, will result in a most certain death. To amp up the tension, Evelyn is pregnant.
Has anyone in the history of human kind ever delivered a baby in silence?
That’s just one spoke in an infinitesimal wheel of suspense and an emotionally gut-wrenching dramatic force of nature and illustrates that Krasinski’s first turn in the director’s chair is nothing short of a miracle.
Although everyone involved in this beyond stellar, the star of this brilliant exercise in entertainment is Blunt. She has always been one of her generation’s most gifted thespians. What she does in A Quiet Place shows levels of character awareness that has only been teased prior. Given her history, that is a stunning statement. Everyone who is a mother or who has a mother will be stunned by what Blunt brings to this terrifying tale. It is a selfless turn that within it possesses lessons for us all in how one adequately, lovingly and righteously loves, cherishes and emboldens our children. This all in the face of unimaginable threats.
Krasinski not only stuns as a director, his performance is one that is to be treasured. That too can be said for those he cast as he and Blunt’s cinematic children. Simmonds is a revelation. As a deaf teenager growing up in a world that cannot be grasped by those of us who live, breathe and yes, speak loudly, she shows a range of acting power beyond her young years.
When diving into the bonus features for A Quiet Place, given that silence is at the heart of the film (and even utilized in the film’s moniker), we must start by shining a spotlight on The Sound of Darkness.
This brilliant bonus feature looks at how one explores making a movie with the most minimal of dialogue. It starts with putting a ton of effort into the sound design and all that that entails. When a filmmaker calls “quiet on the set,” it is probably the most important direction given by someone like Krasinski and as this featurette shows, that was merely the beginning. Then, conversely, when there is sound that is emitted in the film—from the vocal sound effects of the aliens to the Abbotts’ vocal responses to pending and present danger—the first time helmer and his team excel in that stunning sonic contrast. The featurette also takes all that into account and then shines the spotlight on the score by Marco Beltrami.
It takes a special composer to frame quietness and its terrifying opposite.
Reading the Quiet is an almost-fifteen-minute and intense look at the making of this instant classic. It explores everything from the sensational script, shooting locales and how Krasinski channeled his experience as an actor to bring the most out of his ensemble—as well as how his thespian past proved priceless as a director.
The real-life couple, Blunt and Krasinski, speak to how their marriage played a part in the chemistry between them, as well as the overall tone of this film about a family in peril.
Sense a hush-y theme here?
A Reason for Silence is the third and final bonus feature and gives us a nice look at how the alien—the reason for the silent sizzle of A Quiet Place—was put together in the most intelligent of ways. It is all mesmerizing, from biological physiology to how motion capture was utilized by the actors who “played” the alien invaders. Most captivating is an exploration of Krasinski’s sci-fi and horror influences that played a role in making our antagonists so incredibly terrifying.
Film Grade: A+
Bonus Features: A-