Shhhhhh!!!! I have a confession to make. I only knew about the premise and I was rather curious how actor/director John Krasinski (aka Jim Halpert from The Office) would tackle that premise in a horror genre. Man, comedians or people from a comedy genre want to take a step up to tackle a horror genre. Heck, it worked for Jordan Peele last year for his brilliant horror movie, Get Out, and got him the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and deservedly so. Now, Krasinski has crafted such an old-fashioned horror film with a simple premise that is elevated to another level thanks to the terrific performances by both the adults and children that you care enough about them at the end.
The movie opens on day 89 when an alien invasion has wiped out most of humanity. The monsters are blind but possess an acute sense of sound so they hunt down people who ever make noise. The Abbott family - parents Lee and Evelyn (John Krasinski and Emily Blunt), children Regan, Marcus and Beau (Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe and Cade Woodward) - lives in silence and communicates through sign language. After a tragedy and over a year later, the family thrive to live as quietly as they can and Evelyn is pregnant with her and Lee's fourth child. Lee attempts to make hearing aids for Regan, since she is deaf, by using spare parts out of radio equipment but fails for her to listen to sounds and noises.
The family has adapted to eating food with their hands or playing a board game with material other than metallic objects. And, even though the family gets along as a group, Lee and Regan have a conflicting relationship because of the tragedy. However, things get a bit more tense as Evelyn starts to have contractions.
This is a gripping and tense horror thriller that will keep you silent and on the edge of your seat for 95 minutes. You would not feel the running time because you are immersed by the depressing apocalyptic world and you feel like you are curdled with the family and have to be kept silent throughout the film. It would have been a lot of different if the movie were to start in day 1 and it could have been a cliched horror movie like Alien and Cloverfield combined.What I was impressed by the movie is that Krasinski focused more on the character study than the horror elements. Sure, there are jump scares but they are done so effectively that you do not solely feel scared for yourself, however, you are in a dark theater with an audience, but you feel scared for the family and you do not want them to be harmed.
The performances are great across the board. John Krasinski does a very good job embodying the fatherly figure protecting his family whatever means necessary. One of the main reasons Krasinski took on this project is because he is a father himself and see a more personal angle in this genre even though in interviews he said that was not into the horror genre in the past until recently. Emily Blunt delivers one of her most riveting performances to date as she conveys a silent fear of emotion towards the stakes of delivering a baby and hopefully not putting the family in a dire situation. Her situation is as scary as it can get. Noah Jupe delivers again after his sublime performances in Wonder and the terrible Suburbicon and Millicent Simmonds carries on a remarkable silent performance, without spoiling, whose presence is key to the whole plot.
Krasinski, as a director, has a keen eye for how to place the camera when he or Blunt communicates with the children with sign language or when a monster is maybe lurking around as it attempts to get closer. It is a good segue since the sound design is meticulously scary because it is like a monster is two steps behind you creeping up on you and psyching you out until it is time to scare you. And, I like how the movie ends because there is a glimmer of hope for these characters and you can have a conversation to what happens because it is not as ambiguous as you think.
There are moments of unbelievability such as how the electricity was running or moments with Emily Blunt's character after the pregnancy that is questionable amongst a few other questions. However, I am nitpicking stuff amongst an almost great but very good old-fashioned horror movie that is a throwback to other horror movies like Tremors and Signs that has stakes and terror that is executed a lot better and finishes strong. I would not be surprised if this is talked about later to be considered for awards recognition because it is that strong. This could be the sleeper hit of 2018, like Get Out last year.
****
Comments
Post a Comment