A surprisingly excellent highlight of 2018
I never would’ve expected it, but A Quiet Place has turned out to be one of my favorite films of 2018. I’m not typically a big fan of the horror genre, but watching this movie was an amazing experience. It makes excellent use of one of the best and most unique concepts I’ve seen in a movie, and the actors’ ability to convey powerful ideas and emotions with little to no dialogue was unlike anything I’ve seen before in a film.
The single most interesting thing about A Quiet Place is that- at least in my experience- the theater was truly silent. The terrifyingly quiet ambience of the film seeped into the audience as people struggled to munch their popcorn as quietly as possible. Not often have I seen a film command such a powerful mood from the very beginning.
And speaking of the very beginning, it was clear this film was going to be different from your average horror flick right off the bat from the shockingly unexpected outcome of one of the very first scenes that immediately establishes exactly why it is the characters in this world must always keep quiet. This took me completely by surprise, as most films like to save these intense moments for later on, often waiting even until the climax, whereas A Quiet Place wasted no time in showing how high the stakes were for our characters.
Another thing the movie got right was the pacing. Many films have a habit of overstaying their welcome, reaching 2 hours and beyond when much of that time is just wasted. At only 1 hour and 31 minutes, this was certainly not the case for A Quiet Place. While this is rather short, it truly felt like the perfect amount of real estate the film needed to tell its story.
All things considered, I would rate this film a 9.5/10. Going into this film, I certainly didn’t expect to be this impressed, but I can honestly say I have never had a more pleasant experience with a horror movie. The atmosphere, characters, and pacing were all excellent, and I very much hope we’ll get to see a sequel in the future.
Read critics’ reviews for A Quiet Place: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_quiet_place_2018
The Film Review 