The “jump scare” in horror movies has always been viewed as a sort of cheap gimmick. When a film is devoid of genuine tension and atmosphere, these scares are utilized to get a reaction from the audience. Usually, it’s a quick music cue that is so loud and jarring that you can’t help but literally jump out of your seat. Most of the time the scare is false. When you think it’s going to be the killer jumping into the frame is actually a cat or the best friend who means no harm. PG-13 horror uses this technique a lot, especially the more recent horror films that cater to the teen crowd who are known to populate a theater on opening night and make a mediocre film seen legitimate on opening weekend before it falls off a cliff.
A Quiet Place is a PG-13 horror film and its tension is built around numerous building jump scares but the film doesn’t use them as a gimmick. This is an example of these scares being used to craft palpable moments of fear. The sound design, and sometimes the lack thereof, is near claustrophobic and the growing sense of anxiety is almost unbearable. The film is unrelenting in its approach and while some might seek more concrete explanations as to why these events are taking place, I believe the film works best because you’re thrust into the barebones of the story and asked to experience the fear with the characters.
The year is 2020 and we’re informed via a caption that whatever is happening has been happening for about three months. The “whatever” turns out to be an alien invasion. Unfriendly extraterrestrials have attacked and left isolated bands of humans to survive in near-silence. Since the aliens hunt by sound and apparently have no vision, staying quiet is paramount. Any loud noise can bring them, and they attack with such swiftness and ferocity that neither fighting nor fleeing represents a viable option.
During the film’s opening sequence, we are introduced to the five-member Abbott family: mom Evelyn (Emily Blunt), dad Lee (John Krasinski), and their three children – Regan (Millicent Simmonds), who is deaf; Marcus (Noah Jupe), who is ill; and Beau (Cade Woodward), who is too young to fully understand the dangers making noise in the dire situation they are in. Barefoot and careful, they creep around an abandoned drug store, looking for medication to help Marcus. Tragedy strikes on the way home, however, as Beau inadvertently creates a commotion and the film makes it known early on that it’s breaking the mold that some horror films dare not cross: dispatching a young child with such intensity and ferocity that the sequence lingers with you long after it’s over.
The film then jumps ahead a year and the pain and grief associated with Beau’s loss have diminished but aren’t gone. Teenage Regan is exhibiting signs of rebellion. And Evelyn, pregnant with her fourth child, is approaching her due date. Lee continues to enhance their home’s security measures, which include a colored-light warning system, monitors, and a sound-proof underground room. Everything is in place to protect Evelyn during the delivery and safeguard mother and child afterward – until fate intervenes to put everyone in danger at the most critical time.
Director, co-writer & star, John Krasinski, has taken inspiration from best of what Ridley Scott offered in 1979’s, Alien. That film is probably one of the best examples of a sci-fi that generates its scares based on atmosphere and growing tension. You don’t really get a clear shot of the Xenomorph until late in the film and the glimpses you do see early on, are terrifying because you’re projecting your own fears onto that creation because you haven’t gotten a clear view of it. Krasinski uses the same techniques here. The creatures in question are only seen in fleeting glimpses as they creep through the house or scurry around through the woods. As the climax approaches, we get a clearer image of the threat and thankfully their ability to generate scares aren’t diminished by bad effects or poor creature design. They are a frightening creation, from the way they move and the almost unbearable clicking sounds they make as they stalk around looking for prey.
Sound design is crucial to the film’s success. Much of the film is silent, with Marco Beltrami’s score used sparingly to escalate the mood when necessary. The characters mostly communicate through sign language to avoid detection from the creatures who use sound to seek them out. The quiet is the culprit here and the lack of impending sound makes some of the scares almost too hard to take. The character of Regan, played by real-life deaf actress Millicent Simmonds at Krasinski’s incestance, is used in several key sequences to fully display the film’s palpable sound design. Sometimes we go from the sounds of the chaos surrounding the characters to her perspective and whenever the film makes the shift, the sound completely drops out. There is one truly effective scene of her in the hoods that is completely silent from her perspective as one of the creatures looms behind her. They’re both at a disadvantage but the fear of her making the slightest noise puts your anxiety on high because we have seen what these things can do.
The film is full of expertly crafted scenes that ratchet up the tension. We know that Evelyn’s due date is approaching and that childbirth is far from a quiet experience so that impending moment is built up to unrelenting levels. It helps that Emily Blunt instantly gains our sympathy so that when the pivotal moment comes, we are genuinely frightened for her. Another intense scene has a flooded soundproof room as one of the creatures has made its way in and is uncomfortably close to a baby that is prone to cry at any moment. It’s definitely a heart-pounding moment that truly resonates.
The cast is top notch from top to bottom because they feel like a real family. It’s interesting that Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are well known enough (and most know that they are married in real life) but they disappear into their roles. This is the kind of film that may have benefitted from unknown actors to really sell the believability of the situation but it’s a testament to their talent that they make you forget about their real-life status. The main child performers played by Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, also put in solid work. They instantly gain your sympathy that allows their peril to go beyond feeling bad because it’s two children in danger. They make you care about them and they both are definitely put into situations that have their life in immediate danger (their sequence in a silo where tons of shifting grain, sucking with quicksand-like efficiency begins to overcome them is one of those moments and it proves to be more frightening than almost any scene involving the aliens).
Horror has seen a sort of resurgence over the last few years. Sure, we still get the horror films that utilize cheap theatrics and gimmicks but in that mix, we also get the horror films that are executed with an expert like proficiency. As a film that purely generates tension that is almost too much to take, A Quiet Place is a perfect film that is likely to be remembered alongside some of the best for years to come.
