A Quiet Place Won't Stop 

Making Noise In My Head 

When I first watched the above trailer of A Quiet Place, I decided not to watch the movie. I thought, "Another alien movie, attacking earth, in an apocalyptical future, plus it's directed by "Jim" from "The Office." I've seen that one already a hundred times. No thank you!"  

I really thought it was another attempt to create a summer horror flick that drives kids to go just because of the genre. And I LOVE horror movies! I just don't like them when they are rip offs or the same old Alien Invasion we've already seen. Take a look at this Wikipedia list of these types of films and you will get my point. Just War of the Worlds has been made 11 times!

Now, I say that was a dumb call on my part and I owe Krasinski an apology because his directing WAS GREAT! The acting performances were stellar as well.

The impetus of this film is what drew me into it. Most parents know the painstaking feeling of trying to protect their children at all costs. "Don't fall, burn yourself, or talk to strangers" Keeping kids quiet so they aren't eaten by alien monsters, was not on my list of protections for my children. KEEPING KIDS QUIET? Anyone who has ever interacted with a child knows this is pretty much an impossibility. Still, that is where A Quiet Place lies, in this world where even the slightest noise can get you wiped out. Krasinski and his sound design team of Erik Asdahl and Ethan Van der Ryn (who also did sound for the recent release Cocaine Bear) wanted to play with the fear of silence in a world where you must be silent and I have to say it was brilliant. 

Millicent Simmonds gave a profound performance as the oldest daughter of the family. The decision to clear sound (envelope as they called it on set) in the scenes where she was the pinnacle protagonist, was uncanny. We WANTED to hear for her so she would be safe but we couldn't. What an awesome choice to help the viewer feel what the character was feeling. I would say it went one step beyond that as well, because we could empathize in a way that most of us never get an opportunity to do: Not hear, like she couldn't. It was shocking to us, normal for her. 

John Krasinski explaining why they used the silent effect for the daughter

In my opinion it is the sound design of this film that makes it so...everything. The fear, the intensity, the drama, the emotion, our connection with these characters is all guided by the soundscapes that were created in each scene. Listen to the completely eerie sound of those monsters. I don't even need to see them to be freaked out! For example, (SPOILER ALERT) when the mother is about to go into labor and the monster is entering the house. It's not just what we see that is scary, it's the combination of the monster, that time ticking, the alarm, the quiet, held-in screams as she had each contraction. This was probably one of the most thrilling scenes I have watched in ANY scary movie!

What is usually the determining factor of a good horror or thriller for me is the denouement. How long do I feel the effects of how this film unraveled in the end? I was thinking about it for days. I watched it again the following weekend and found myself jumping at the same stuff...THAT I KNEW WAS COMING!  How was this effect created? By blending silence that we aren't prepared for, with loud blasts that were unexpected as well. Many horror films use a crescendo technique to build intensity, but not this film. It would be totally silent for many seconds and then BOOM! It is a physical response that we have to consider is remarkable from a two-dimensional space. Let's face it, we only use two senses when we are watching movies, what we hear and what we see (unless you count the smell of popcorn:). It takes incredible artists to play with these senses to give us something that feels 3 dimensionally REAL! A Quiet Place is a compelling example of how sound can bring you deep into the action and make you feel things beyond what you are seeing. After my second viewing of this film, I had a nightmare. Not about the monsters, not about keeping my kids safe, not about someone dying, but about that damn creepy clicking noise that those creatures made. I couldn't get "A Quiet Place" out of my head and that is the sign of great sound design!

Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van Der Ryn won Best Sound Design at the 2019 Academy Awards

I'm certain I will watch it again and I'm certain I will jump all over again as well! I give A Quiet Place 5 out of 5 hearts, though I thought mine was going to come out of my chest a few times! 

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