A Quiet Place isn’t a standout movie on its own, but does have a few standout moments and a few good performances including John Krasinski really coming into his own, leaving behind his character from The Office behind.
A Quiet Place
(2018)
Genre(s): Horror, Suspense/Thriller, Drama
Paramount | PG13 – 90 min. – $34.99 | July 10, 2018
Date Published: 07/03/2018 | Author: The Movieman
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Paramount provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 4.0/5 |
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Note: This portion of the review contains PLOT SPOILERS so beware. The Abbott Family — patriarch Lee (JOHN KRASINSKI), matriarch Evelyn (EMILY BLUNT) and their two kids Regan (MILLICENT SIMMONDS) and Marcus (NOAH JUPE) — live in a society under attack by unknown creatures who strike at just about any sound, proven in the opening of the film when their youngest child turned on a toy, after which was killed by one of these beasts. In order to survive, they family travels by barefoot on a path laid with sand, live in their home making as little sound as possible.
A Quiet Place seems to be 2018’s standout film, a low budget horror film released at the right time garnering both critical acclaim and struck a chord with audiences, going on to make nearly $350 million worldwide off of a $17 million budget. But does it live up to the hype? For me, it was a really well made movie albeit still has the tired jump scare trope, at least early on. What really stood out was for the first half of the movie, if not longer, there’s not one word of spoken dialogue, instead the family communicates with sign language, learned since Regan is deaf, making her situation even more precarious at times. But even without a word spoken, the story is none the less compelling and focuses more on the family and their plight than, thankfully, anything about the creatures, leaving how they came to be left to the imagination, or at least our knowledge as audiences is as much as the family’s; unfortunately I’m guessing the creatures’ origins will probably be explored in the recently announced sequel…
The performances are all well done. John Krasinski continues to prove that he’s able to do drama just as well as comedy (also demonstrated in 13 Hours) with a heartfelt performance as a man doing his best to protect his family as well as prepare his kids for the future. Emily Blunt as the mother has several intense scenes, adding to the danger that she’s pregnant while escaping the creatures. And as child actors go, both Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe turned in fine performances and never came across either obnoxious or precocious. On the technical front, Krasinski hits a near homerun in his feature film directorial debut, doing a good job balancing the family drama with creature horror. The tension is ramped up quite nicely and, this is a compliment, reminded me in many ways to early M. Night Shyamalan, particularly Signs with the questionable ‘twist’ of these creatures’ weakness.
All in all, A Quiet Place is just a well-made horror-thriller that succeeds at just about every level with a heartfelt core story about a family intermixed with some tense scenes. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.5/5 |
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This release comes with a semi-glossy slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. The features are on the thinner side:
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4K VIDEO – 4.75/5, BD VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Paramount tip toes and softly releases A Quiet Place onto 4K Ultra HD presented in its original 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 2160p high-definition transfer (HEVC / H.265 codec). The movie certainly looks amazing in 4K, detail is sharp throughout while black levels, and there is plenty of that to judge, is stark without losing the elements within the scene. When there is color, such as when Krasinski lights a fire and other fires are lit in the area, is bright and stands out against the darker scenery.
The 1080p Blu-ray meanwhile, in my testing anyway, is no slouch either; it might not be as well defined by comparison and I did notice a little reduction in terms of the colors, this still looks really good. |
4K/BD AUDIO – 4.75/5 |
| Both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray come with Dolby Atmos tracks which were quite strong from the bass that kicks on adding to the tension as well as depth and dialogue, when there is any, comes through with good clarity. But this is a movie that really takes advantage of the front and rear channels with various ambient noises or off-screen action. Not prepared to say this is reference quality work, however still remarkable. |
OVERALL – 4.25/5 |
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Overall, A Quiet Place isn’t a standout movie on its own, but does have a few standout moments and a few good performances including John Krasinski really coming into his own, leaving behind his character from The Office behind. Not entirely sure why it struck a chord with audiences but it is a highly entertaining and well made horror-thriller worth renting or an outright purchase as the replay value is high. This 4K UHD release has great video/audio transfers and some so-so bonus features. |
The screen captures came from the Blu-ray copy and are here to add visuals to the review and do not represent the 4K video.