A QUIET PLACE

It's a fairly high concept setup – predatory alien creatures, with supernaturally good hearing, are instantly attracted to even the slightest sound  - and they have decimated the human population of earth.

It’s produced by Michael Bay's company Platinum Dunes - up till this point they have focused on fairly dreadful horror remakes (Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, The Hitcher). Though it seems they’ve seen the success of Jason Blumhouse and his filmmaking model of ‘low budget/high returns’ (Get Out, Split, The Purge, Sinister, Insidious, The Conjuring, Paranormal Activity) and decided to try it themselves. Taking a risk on original material can seriously pay off – rather than rehashing old brands.

The film opens with Lee Abbott (John Krasinski), his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) with their children, hunkering down at their remote farmhouse and attempting to evade the predators and survive. The farmhouse is soundproofed - sand covers walking tracks, basements are wallpapered in newspaper and converted into soundproofed living quarters, ultimately establishing from the outset that this family have a well thought-out efficiency to their ‘silent living’. Into this environment is added the complication of Evelyn being pregnant. A baby and total silence are obviously not great bedfellows.

The eldest daughter Regan (which is a slight name check to Linda Blair’s character of the same name from The Exorcist) is played by a real life hearing impaired actress named Millicent Simmons – and she is terrific. Her presence in the film is very much key to the ‘silent living’ because most family communication is conducted using signing - which is then subtitled. Likewise Noah Jupe is also great as the sensitive youngest son Marcus.

Krasinski sets up the rules of this world rather well, ratcheting up tension from the first scene and ensures the audience is gripped for the films full running time. High concept ideas such as these can easily go off the rails - if a film’s internal logic isn’t adequately established at the outset. A filmmaker has to lay out the rules that the characters inhabiting the story have to follow – and Krasinski does an absurdly brilliant job. The smart workarounds that the family use to avoid making sound are clever and thoughtful, which only adds to making the concept work better.

Krasinski’s an actor that most people would know from the US version of The Office and from various ensemble comedy’s. Here though, he’s brilliant. I saw him last in 13 Hours, Michael Bay’s rather action-focused telling of the Benghazi Consulate siege – he proved his dramatic action chops in that. He’s also next going to be seen in Amazon’s new Jack Ryan TV show, where he’ll take on the CIA Analyst role that Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine had a crack at. Judging by his performance here, I think he’ll do a great job.

There are some bloody scenes, but they’re mainly quick and efficient and the film never lingers longer than it needs to. What the film does have, is sharp tension. This is held, quite successfully, for the entire film. In fact it’s probably the most suspenseful film I’ve seen in a long time. It’s lean and its muscular, running 90 minutes in length, which is well-judged as it never outstays its welcome. Highly recommended, though rustling popcorn and loudly crunching chips in the theater may not be a good idea as a 'sssshh' is guaranteed.