A Quiet Place

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

[mr_rating_result]

Why would the next Mary Poppins star in a horror film guaranteed to give children nightmares? Instead of “a spoonful of sugar” Emily Blunt is dishing up a poisonous little pill called “A Quiet Place.”

The answer is simple: Emily Blunt (the upcoming “Mary Poppins Returns”) is married to the film’s director and her co-star, John Krasinski (TV’s “The Office”). Krasinski even co-wrote the film.

Here is an apocalyptic story of family survival. Lee and Evelyn Abbott (Krasinski and Blunt) will stop at nothing to protect their three children following a mysterious invasion that leaves their upstate New York town filled with strange toothy, long-armed alien creatures that rip people apart. Discovering that these blind predators are attracted by noise, the family sets about living a soundless life where they go barefoot and sprinkle sand over every path to deaden the sound.

Silence may be golden. But being quiet is easier said than done … a lesson the family cruelly learns when their younger child makes the mistake of playing with a battery-powered toy. Buzz-buzz. In a flash he’s gutted by these monsters that consist of skeletal bodies, delicate inner ears, crab-like pincers, and razor-sharp fangs.

With that as the prologue, the actual story begins to unfold a year later where we find the family hiding away on a farm. They may think they are safe, but we know better — the audience’s prescience in a horror movie. We know we can count on the alien beasties to chase them about the farmyard, into the grain elevator, and through the maze of narrow rows of corn in a nearby field.

This speak-no-evil premise gives us a thrill ride with practically no dialogue. Essentially a silent movie.

Bearded and buff, Krasinski comes across as a noble-hearted survivalist. As his now-pregnant wife, Blunt represents hope for the future. Playing their son, Noah Jupe gives them someone to protect. And perfectly cast as the deaf older daughter, Millicent Simmonds shows what it’s like to exist in a world without sound … and provides the raison d’être for the family to know sign language. (Deaf in real life, Simmonds helped teach her fellow cast members how to sign.)

“A Quiet Place” is currently giving audiences the silent treatment at Tropic Cinema.

Although a B-movie, you’ve gotta give third-time director Krasinski credit when it comes to building tension, creating anxiety, and delivering goosebumps. The lean, mean storyline may come across like a so-so M. Night Shyamalan flick (e.g. “Signs” or “The Village”). But the art is in the telling.

Your heart will be beating so loudly you might expect the voracious alien creatures on the screen to turn your way.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com