John Krasinski’s sci-fi–horror is silently creating quite the ruckus at the box office.
Through the restriction of sound this film heightens the rest of your senses, it engages your biological sense of alertness and anticipation in such a way that you feel immersed in the predator-prey world of the family.
The assiduous attention to detail infects you and leaves you hanging on every subtlety, heart racing throughout.
Krasinski, known for his role in NBC’s ‘The Office’ directs and stars alongside the Bafta and Golden Globe-winning actress Emily Blunt – who is also his wife in real-life. They play parents Lee and Evelyn who face a daily struggle of protecting their kids played by Noah Jupe – ‘Suburbicon’, the extremely talented deaf actress Millicent Symonds – ‘wonderstruck’ and Code Woodward in a world where any noise at all attracts blind murderous beasts.
The film starts at day 89 in the classic horror motif of the ghostly supermarket, no clue is given yet to why the family must operate in complete silence. They communicate using the sign language they learned for their deaf daughter, Regan. The youngest child finds a toy rocket which he shows to the dad, Lee, to express flying away and escaping their lives. The dad responds with a characteristic sharp rationality and removes the batteries. It’s ‘too dangerous’.
Silence is a skill the family has – to master to survive, only in a few meticulous situations may they make any noise safely. The extreme cautions the family must endure is increasingly pushed to the test especially as the mother, Evelyn, is 38 weeks pregnant.
You find that the art of noise can be a resource for a variety of purposes, only in films such as ‘Alien’ and ‘Jurassic Park’ has the proficiency of sound been explored so deeply. The metaphysical topic of whether humans can adapt and survive in a world without noise is questioned skilfully and explored in a way that doesn’t lose its novelty or horror by the end.
However, this film has more to offer than suspense, much of the horror comes from the real-life paranoia of parenthood and keeping your kids safe in a hostile world. The line “who are we if we can not protect them” will stay with you long after the film is over. It was when Emily Blunt read the line in the screenplay that she knew she wanted to take on the role. The line encapsulates the true horror of the film. For parents, the loss of there lives comes secondary to the loss of there children.
If a flaw could be found in the film, it’s that in places it doesn’t let up from scene to scene. The horror found in constructing a setting, then building tension, is somewhat lost. However, this didn’t take much away from the overall impact of the film upon leaving the cinema. You’ll feel like you’ve just survived the whole ordeal yourself and will be giggling with relief.
By Harvey Clitheroe