A familiar premise is redeemed by a nifty gimmick in this suspenseful horror thriller, directed by John Krasinski from a story by indie filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. Krasinski and Emily Blunt star as parents on the run with their children as space aliens ravage the earth; these are the usual giant, fast-moving insects with sphincter visages, but they respond only to sound, hunting down and eviscerating anyone who utters a word. The elder of the two children is hearing-impaired, so the family communicate with sign language (captioned onscreen), but most of the story transpires in pantomime, and Krasinski takes advantage of the heightened paranoia that silence can bring. Blunt carries the movie, not least because her character faces the direst dilemma: she is nine months pregnant, and the baby’s birth may doom them all. With Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe as the two kids.
A Quiet Place
PG-13 • 1 hour 30 min • 2018
