Review of A Quiet Place (2018) by Ittiaces — 05 Apr 2018

As a huge horror fan, I thought I was in for a real treat with this film considering some of the fantastic reviews it's received. Unfortunately, I found it quite disappointing. The pace is incredibly slow, particularly at the beginning, and the story becomes wearisome quickly. It has a basic premise, alien invasion, people on the run and it doesn't get any more complicated than that. Although there were some interesting scenes where the sense of imminent danger was well delivered, I never felt particularly scared which is the hallmark of any good horror. Both Emily Blunt and John Krasinski were certainly dedicated in their roles as husband and wife trying to protect their remaining children but I still never felt any connection to them or their predicament. There was no character development to speak of, and the world they inhabited was not shown or developed in any way. I'm assuming that was intentional but neither did I feel they piqued my interest in the fate of the rest of the world outside their small farm. Another issue I had was with the CG alien creatures. They looked very similar to the ones from Cloverfield lane, and it seemed there was little desire in making something new and original here. Seeing these monsters wholly unveiled left nothing to the imagination and, substantially reduced the overall tension that could have been produced had we not known what they entirely looked like or were capable of from the beginning. The story, on the whole, seemed more like a focused study on how a family would cope if such a disaster occurred and how it would alter their day to day lives as they attempted to survive rather than a developed piece of horror fiction.

Overall it's a decent albeit somewhat bland movie that's worth a look however if you're in the market for a real horror story that'll chill you to the bone for a couple of hours then this, unfortunately, isn't it.