A Quiet Place (2018)

Innovative, refreshing, original - all words that perfectly describe A Quiet Place (2018). The film incorporates elements seen in just about every great plotline: loss, sacrifice, and the forfeiting of hope (as well as its subsequent reappearance). Without giving too much away - because it really is worth seeing - let’s discuss just what made this movie so good.

It’s a well known fact that blockbuster films tend to avoid inclusion of minority cultures. While some are starting to be represented (e.g. the nearly complete African-American cast of Black Panther [2018]), others are left in obscurity. A Quiet Place intimately portrays the hardships of being deaf in a hearing world, with an unexpected plot twist that leads to an unlikely heroine.

Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress, was chosen to portray Regan Abbott, the young, female lead whose deafness impairs her ability to survive on her own in a post-apocalyptic environment ravaged by aliens that hunt off of the sound of their prey. Without the help of her family, Regan would almost certainly die. A Quiet Place expertly employs the use of American Sign Language (ASL) as the primary means of communication between Regan and her family, who have managed to survive by going underground.

While deaf culture is not the primary focus of the film, it is greatly highlighted by the extensive signing done on screen by not only Millicent Simmonds but also her co-stars, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, who are not native signers. Being a student of ASL myself, I was intrigued by the actors’ familiarity with the signs. There was a certain fluidity to their movements that can only come from practice and commitment.

However, hand movements only make up a portion of signing; there are also non-manual grammatical signals (NMGS) to take into account. One such signal would be the use of one’s eyebrows. When raised, the eyebrows indicate the discussion of a topic. When lowered, they indicate a question. I did not notice as many NMGS as were necessary to convey the proper messages, but I did appreciate the dedication Blunt and Krasinski put into their signing.

Having said that, the lack of speaking in the film was intriguing. Not being able to communicate a message via the spoken word meant that a lot had to be made up for through body language. You could tell just by watching Emily Blunt how much stress she was forcing onto her body in order to send the right message without uttering a word. Her bulging neck muscles should have had their own credit line with the sheer amount of appearances they made every time she held her breath in fear during the movie.

Because it was predominantly silent throughout the film, the sound effects had to be carefully chosen and fit perfectly with building suspense in a scene. Many times throughout the viewing, I would be sitting in eager anticipation during a moment of sheer silence when a large sound would pervade in the scene and scare the bejesus out of me. Needless to say, the effects were very well done.

Although the plotline was intriguing and the writers could have gone more in depth with the background story of how the world came to an end, they chose to focus their attention on developing these few key players, which was ultimately the wisest decision as it made losing any of them that much harder to bear. Each character grew to be dynamic and relatable to the audience. I felt like I could see a little bit of myself in each role, allowing me to grow more invested in the well-being and success of the group as a whole.

However, Lee Abbott (John Krasinski) took center-stage as the guardian and defender of the family, leaving me with a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. It felt like the film had broken so many barriers with its storyline, just to go full-circle and stereotype the women as homemakers and the men as warriors. There were moments where we saw Regan’s character trying to break free from these conservative chains but was put back in her place. Ultimately, however, my inner-feminist prevailed - and yours will too - by the conclusion of the film which, if I do say so myself, was badass. Major girl-power points were scored.

I wasn’t expecting this but I think that A Quiet Place might be one of my new favorites. If I had a checklist for everything I could ever want in a horror film, this movie would tick all the boxes. A Quiet Place is an exceptional piece of work that I would highly recommend to all.