Marketing itself as something that could have been a cheap gimmick, A Quiet Place turns into one of the most original and exhilarating horror movies in years all within the first five minutes. In his third outing behind the camera director and star John Krasinki has found his niche in a part B monster movie with just the right dosage of family heart. This film is also as exhilarating and visually intense as they come. A monster movie that has something that has been missing over the years; truly terrifying monsters. Displaying a cast that you can count on one hand with each character greatly leaving a mark on you it A Quiet Place finds its way to your heart all while trying to stop it. With Ready Player One already out one could say this is actually the Spielberg movie we deserve for our theater going experience, and man what an experience.

A Quiet Place wastes no time in its 90ish minute run. The opening introduces us to John Krasinski and his on screen (and real life) wife Emily Blunt stealthy and yes quietly trying to protect their two kids from what appears to be yet another end of the world situation. We soon learn that any type of noise sets off the radar of some horrifying creatures that are out for blood. This leaves the family to carefully maneuver shoeless, speak broken ASL and also allows for some mistakes that have dire consequences. The mistakes they make may cause you to roll your eyes, but you will soon be saying to yourself “yea I probably would have done the same thing.” That is the beauty that Krasinki makes in this believable family who are struggling everyday against some monsters, and boy are they scary. Without giving too much away it should be said that while we only get some blurry edit cuts of the monsters within the first few minutes this is no Signs because these monsters eventually show up in full flesh. In fact these CGI creatures are so terrifying that when they do come up front and center you will be wishing for those earlier glimpses when you felt safer. Secrecy isn’t the name of the game for this film since there are little to no major surprises, but what makes keeping A Quiet Place spoiler free is the intensity that will grasp you the entire time as long as you see this in the biggest and most crowded theater you can.

As the movie progresses you realize why Krasinski, who is more known for his loveable role of Jim Halpert on The Office, was given this opportunity to direct something that is much more terrifying than Scranton paper suppliers. Krasinski has the excellent ability to never veer away from the notion that this is a movie about family and more specifically the roles of parenthood. The chemistry with Blunt is undeniable and their real life relationship only helps you believe that while their characters may not be parents of the year, they are certainly the best ones to love and protect you in this situation. However all credit is not due to just the adult actors. Their young daughter perfectly played by deaf actress Millicent Simmonds (Wonderstruck) and young son played by Noah Jupe (Suburbicon) steal every moment they are in. If one is quick to compare this movie to Jurassic Park, then it should first be said these two are the actors any intense horror/thriller would be honored to have. No spoilers but a scene involving these two and some corn (yes corn) will have you gasping for breath as your knuckles turn white.

If the film has any flaws you’ll only find them in the minimal. Yes, there are some cheap jump scares and no it does not fully flesh out everything. But where it matters it succeeds above and beyond. In a time where we find great horror films diving into the complex with Get Out and The Witch it is a breath of fresh movie going air that we get pure entertainment with A Quiet Place. So rejoice because the smartly executed monster movie is back!….just don’t be too loud or else.

A Quiet Place ranking  A-