Review Roundup: Critics Weigh In On John Krasinski's A QUIET PLACE,

The horror film follows a family living in quiet solitude in the woods, where silence is survival! As the film progresses we learn why they use sign language as a choice, not a necessity!

Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds also star in the supernatural horror film, produced by Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller. Bryan Woods and Scott Beck wrote the original script which was rewritten by Krasinski. Paramount Pictures horror film A QUIET PLACE stars real-life husband and wife Krasinski and Emily Blunt.

The film hits theaters tomorrow, so let's see what the critics had to say:

Jeanette Catsoulis, The New York Times: "A welcome alternative to the mind-shredding din of virtually any modern action movie, "A Quiet Place" is an old-fashioned creature feature with a single, simple hook: The creatures are blind, hungry and navigate by sound. Possessed of craniums that roll open to expose a pulsing, wet membrane, they're like skittering ear holes with pointy teeth and clattering appendages. Drawing from a variety of heritage horrors, including "Alien" and "Predator," their design is familiar yet effective, their origin kept shrouded. Extraterrestrial beings or man-made weapons gone rogue, they're a mystery whose source the movie wisely recognizes as irrelevant."

Peter Travers, The Rolling Stone: "The acting is flawless, with Simmonds and young Jupe making every minute count. Blunt (Krasinski's wife off screen) is in a class by herself, taking a near-silent role and building a tour de force of expressive emotion. Her scene in a bathtub, pregnant and alone while evil approaches, is shattering in every sense of the word. And while Krasinski excels as the bearded Big Daddy, it's as a filmmaker that he scores a heart-piercing triumph. Best known for his comic affability as an actor on The Office, he revealed surprising directing chops with his David Foster Wallace adaptation Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (2009) and the well-honed family dramedy The Hollars (2016). Still, nothing in his previous work preps you for the formal intelligence and stylistic daring he instills into every frame here. Cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen and editor Christopher Tellefsen add to the creeping menace."

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Unlike many horror movies, "A Quiet Place" works because we care about the characters. The movie plays on our fondness for not only Krasinski, a Newton native who will forever be Jim from "The Office," whether he likes it or not, but also for Blunt, his real-life wife and (next to Charlize Theron) the toughest woman in movies. Acted or real (or both), their affection grounds the film and makes the scares feel personal. Simmonds silently conveys her character's grief, guilt, and rebellion, while Jupe, who was Matt Damon's son in "Suburbicon" and Jacob Tremblay's best friend in "Wonder," has a wide-eyed mixture of courage and fear that feels just right."

David Edelstein, Vulture: "The movie suffers from having no obvious endgame, and it's not as fun as the recent, less tony shut-the-hell-up horror movie Don't Breathe. But it's aggressively scary. The characters have to be so vewwy quiet that when the floor creaks or someone bumps into a table, the soundtrack goes BANG!!!! and the whole audience jumps. A nail sticking out of the floor makes your stomach plummet: You can instantly imagine the foot coming down on it and the writhing attempt not to scream. Increasing the dread is that Blunt is pregnant - happily so, actually - despite the fact that infants aren't exactly easy to teach sign language to."

Kim Newman, Empire Online: "While Krasinski comes across as the caring survivalist, keeping one of several fires burning in the valley, his pregnant wife Emily Bluntrepresents a hope for the future - though the imminent prospect of soundproofing a baby's crib suggests a hard road ahead. While Noah Jupe is strong as the decent, young son, the standout performer here is hearing-impaired Millicent Simmonds - from Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck - as the family's deaf daughter, whose particular issues dovetail unsettlingly with the approach of the monsters she can't hear coming."

Pete Hammond, Deadline: "For much of the movie the creatures are just seen in the distance or lurking around corners, but if you think Krasinski is going to keep them completely hidden, think again. Just like Hitchcock did in his own way in The Birds, once the battle between this family and their stalkers intensifies, he sticks the hideous creations right in our face. I have seen a ton of movie aliens and creatures of all sorts, but these things - which appear to be all teeth and no face - are truly horrific. I can't get them out my head, but I need to. Bravo to the effects team, and really bravo to the sound team, which have created a brilliant sound design that appears deceptively to be devoid of sound or music at all. But it's there, if not in obvious ways (Marco Beltrami's unobtrusive score is one of his best and most restrained works)."

To post a comment, you must register and login.