Up until last year, I was a hater of all horror movies. When I first heard about A Quiet Place, the first thought that came about was, "Why in the world would anyone want to see this movie? A movie where no one talks?" Little did I know, I was going to be in for a treat.
A Quiet Place follows a family in a post-apocalyptic world where most human civilization has been wiped out. This is due to sightless creatures that have hypersensitive hearing abilities, and kill when any noise is being made by a human. We meet the Abbott family, husband Lee, wife Evelyn, sons Marcus and Beau, and daughter Regan who is deaf and they are deep into 89 days into being silent. Beau steals a toy spaceship from a store after being told not to, and Regan gives it to him. The family was getting supplies from the store and the parents warned him it would attract the monsters. After activating the noise of the toy, Beau is eaten by the creatures.
Fast forward a year later, the family is living on a farm. Regan is still blaming herself for her brother's death and Evelyn is nine months pregnant. Lee gives Regan a hearing aid he crafted but it fails to work.
The whole family is split up, with Regan at Beau's grave after Lee and Marcus go hunting and refuse her to come along, leaving Evelyn at the farm who ends up going into labor. The movie centers around the one night and what surviving with no noise takes.
One of the best elements of the movie is the use of American Sign Language. Many have been praising the hiring on Millicent Simmonds, Regan from the film. The film also adds an impressive element of knocking out sound completely when we are focused on Regan's point of view, to ultimately drive home and give the perspective of a deaf person in this situation.
"I think it's important in the deaf community to advocate for and be a representative for this story," Simmonds told NowThis. "A story that might inspire directors and other screenwriters to include more deaf talent and be more creative in the way you use deaf talent. I think that could be a wonderful thing to see. Not only deaf actors, but other disabled actors as well."
This is definitely a step in the right direction for representation. So far this year alone, we have seen an all black superhero movie, a movie about a gay teen in theaters, and now the deaf community being represented.
John Krasinski a huge impression for his horror directorial debut while also producing and starring in the film. Krasinski has stated in the past that he used to hate horror movies, but felt a special connection with the A Quiet Place script. The script landed in Krasinski's lap just a few weeks after his second child was born.
"I was legitimately in that world of terror and thinking every single minute of every single day about protecting my daughter and keeping her safe, keeping her alive," he stated. "And then a script comes about, basically, the exact same thing. So, that immediately connected me to the whole project and I called [the producers] and said I wanted to do it."
If you have not seen this movie, I highly recommend it. The suspense and the silence of the movie play as the main character and bring home the unsuspecting storyline of parenthood, and you get to see what the parents go through to protect their children. Coming from a recent horror movie fan, this is one you don't want to miss.
