A Quiet Place (2018)
On a devastated Earth overrun by lethal and ever-hearing predators of a possible extraterrestrial origin, the Abbotts struggle to survive in a desolate New York City in a new era of utter silence.
- Full Name: A Quiet Place
- Release Year: 2018
- Time Duration: 1h 30m
- Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
- Director: John Krasinski
- Platform: Amazon PrimeTv
- Cast: John Krasinski
Emily Blunt
Millicent Simmonds
Noah Jupe
Cillian Murphy
Djimon Hounsou
Storyline:
“A Quiet Place,” directed by John Krasinski, is a tense and gripping post-apocalyptic thriller that explores the extremes a family must endure to survive in a world overrun by creatures that hunt primarily by sound. Set in the near future, the film follows the Abbott family as they live in silence to avoid these terrifying monsters that have decimated Earth’s population.
The movie opens on Day 89 of the invasion with the Abbott family—Lee, his wife Evelyn, their deaf daughter Regan, and their two sons, Marcus and Beau—silently scavenging for supplies in a deserted town. The family communicates using American Sign Language, which they know because of Regan’s deafness, giving them a unique advantage in this new world where making noise can be deadly. Despite their careful precautions, tragedy strikes when the youngest child, Beau, activates a battery-powered space shuttle toy. The noise attracts one of the creatures, and despite his family’s desperate attempts to save him, Beau is swiftly and violently killed.
Moving ahead to over a year later, the family has adapted to life in this silent world. They have established a heavily soundproofed home on a farm, where Lee has set up security cameras and lights to monitor the surrounding area. They grow their own food, fish in local rivers, and continue to scavenge for supplies, all while taking meticulous steps to remain as quiet as possible. Evelyn is now pregnant, and the family is preparing for the arrival of a new baby, which presents a massive risk due to the inevitable noise of childbirth and a baby’s cries.
The tension escalates as Evelyn’s due date approaches. Lee takes Marcus out to teach him fishing and survival skills, leaving Regan at home, frustrated that her father won’t let her accompany them. She feels guilty about Beau’s death, believing her father blames her. Meanwhile, Evelyn steps on a nail in the stairs and accidentally makes a noise, initiating a series of events that bring the creatures to their farm.
While alone, Regan visits her brother’s grave and discovers more about the creatures through her own experiments with sound frequency. Marcus and Lee, while out, encounter an elderly man in the forest whose wife has just been killed by the creatures. In a moment of grief and despair, the man screams, attracting a creature that kills him, forcing Lee and Marcus to witness the horror helplessly.
Back at the farm, Evelyn goes into labor. She attempts to navigate her way to safety in their specially modified basement, designed as a safe, soundproof space. However, the creatures are close and the situation becomes dire. Evelyn successfully gives birth, but must control her noise and pain while Lee races back to save her. Upon returning, Lee sees the red warning lights Evelyn has activated (indicating the creatures are near) and sets off fireworks as a distraction to draw them away from the house.
Regan and Marcus return to the farm and end up trapped in a grain silo, facing danger from both the creatures and the risk of suffocation. Regan uses her cochlear implant, modified by Lee, to create high-frequency feedback that drives the creature away temporarily. They reunite with their father, but are quickly forced to separate again due to another creature attack.
In a poignant climax, the family is cornered. Lee signs to Regan that he has always loved her, dispelling her fears of blame for Beau’s death, before sacrificing himself to save his children by shouting to draw the creature to him and away from them. Regan and Marcus reunite with Evelyn and the baby in the basement. Regan, connecting her cochlear implant to a microphone, amplifies the feedback noise, which disorients the creature and exposes its vulnerable inner structure. Evelyn uses a shotgun to kill it.
In the final scenes, the family sees on a security monitor that two more creatures are approaching the house. Armed with the knowledge of the creatures’ weakness and a means to fight back, Regan and Evelyn prepare to defend their home. The film ends with the characters having grown closer through their ordeal and armed with newfound hope for battling the invaders, transitioning from survival to resistance.
“A Quiet Place” is a compelling story of family, resilience, and ingenuity, with minimal dialogue and a heavy reliance on visual storytelling and suspense. It captures the essence of human vulnerability and the primal instinct to protect loved ones at all costs, making it a poignant and intense cinematic experience.