A Quiet Place (2018) * *

Directed by:  John Krasinski

Starring:  John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Noah Jupe, Millicent Simmonds, Cade Woodward

John Krasinski directs A Quiet Place economically and efficiently.   The performances are spot on.  The story is one which calls for plenty of creativity in communication between the actors, since they must remain quiet in order not to be eaten by blind alien creatures with very large teeth.    But the hook of the story is also the downfall.    We really have just a high concept horror movie in which thingies jump out at the actors and other things go bump in the night. 

Krasinski and real-life wife Emily Blunt play parents to three children in the not-too-distant future in which the planet's human population is mostly devoured by the aliens.    We learn through New York Post newspaper headlines that the creatures are blind and use the sounds their prey makes to hunt.    If you make too much noise, then you will be tracked and eaten swiftly.    The couple loses its youngest child that way after he unwisely decides to play with a newfound toy while journeying back home on foot.   

The characters do not wear shoes, possibly because shoes will cause more noise, but it is a miracle the only time anyone suffers a foot injury is when the mother impales herself on a nail sticking out of a step.    She, of course, can not scream in agony because that will attract the creatures.   The mother also has the unfortunate luck of being pregnant and nearing the due date.    Babies cry and giving birth involves lots of noise, but they have a contingency to fool the creatures at least temporarily.   It is not advisable to conceive a child during these times, and one wonders how they managed to have sex without making any utterances.

For that matter, how did the newspapers produce copies without being engulfed by the aliens because printing presses make tons of racket?    I know I'm not supposed to ask such questions, but I can't help myself.    Call me a douche all you want, but this is not a plot which holds up well under scrutiny.    But, I admired Krasinski's ability to direct and work as well as he can within the story's limitations.    From my understanding, the parents don't seem to have names, but Richard Roeper in his Chicago Sun Times review listed them as Lee and Evelyn Abbott.    Maybe that was in the press material.     I will reiterate what I've said before:   Main characters should not be nameless.    I am aware the characters speak mostly through sign language, but there has to be signage for Lee and Evelyn.   I find it odd when a screenplay goes through the machinations not to reveal the first names of its lead characters, like the couple in Once.    At least Fight Club had a legit reason to not naming its narrator.