Jacob VanHoutan, Staff Writer

The movie “A Quiet Place” is one of the most tense viewing experiences I have had in a theater in the past couple of years. I was just sitting in the theater completely silent for the 95 minute runtime, and I felt as if I was in the same situation as the characters in the film. Actor/Director John Krasinski’s latest film opens with this small family in a grocery store collecting supplies and doing every action making little to no noise. You are immediately made aware that any loud noise will have severe consequences when Krasinski, who plays Lee Abbott, has to take a loud, toy spaceship away from the youngest child because the look on his face has pure terror on it.

There is very little dialogue in the film, with most of it being told in quiet whispers. So the film has to be told visually, and Krasinski and the two writers, Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, do a great job with so many moments. There is a scene early on in the film involving the daughter, Regan Abbott, played by Millicent Simmons, and Krasinski that really shows you the kind of relationship they have in a very short argument through sign language and the blocking of the actors.

Simmons’ character is also deaf in this film, and there are many points in this film put in her perspective where all sound is cut from the film, really putting you into her point of view. And the film gets a good performance out of the son, Marcus Abbott, played by Noah Jupe. The film highlights these children in the film and makes them both feel realistic even in a very unfamiliar world. They act like children, which is not something that most films with children actors understand.

This film focuses on survival and throws this family in a world that makes doing that so hard. All these parents want is for their children to be safe, and Krasinski does a fantastic job at focusing on them. The only problem I had with this film is that it does have some scenes that feel unnecessary and just create filler, but those scenes are so few that it does not take away from the quality of the experience.

“A Quiet Place” is not necessarily a horror film so much as it is a very intense thriller that has a very scary and excitingly tense final act. But at its core, it is a film about family, and I hope everyone can go check out this very original film that has some old elements but so many new ones that make it a very refreshing moviegoing experience.

This article first appeared in the Friday, April 13, Edition of The Echo.