BRIAN VINER: Shhhh… they’re right behind you! Emily Blunt shines in a horror flick that turns staying silent into an art form

0
2526

Krasinski possibly didn’t anticipate one tongue-in-cheek way in which his film would be deployed; I went to the Odeon in Hereford last Sunday, where clips from it were shown before the main feature, to encourage the audience to put away their mobile phones and generally stay quiet.

But it could also be shown to anxious expectant mothers, on the basis that they won’t have anything like as much to contend with as poor Evelyn, who, with the monsters circling and listening, even goes and steps on a nail during her contractions.

That is one of several unforgettable scenes. Another rivals Peter Weir’s 1985 movie Witness for the most compelling turn of events ever in a corn silo. About halfway through that scene, I realised I was forgetting to breathe.

On one level, A Quiet Place might be about hostile aliens, but on another, more visceral level, it is about parental love and sacrifice.

‘What are we, if we can’t protect them?’ laments Evelyn. Indeed.

Although it feels irreverent, not to say dangerous, to offer everyone involved in this brilliant film a loud round of applause, that’s what they deserve.

 

3eb36b8a85a51b96324feebf090a613a BRIAN VINER: Shhhh... they're right behind you! Emily Blunt shines in a horror flick that turns staying silent into an art form

3 of 6

LEAVE A REPLY