At a glance
| Director | John Krasinski |
| Release year | 2018 |
| Runtime | 90 minutes |
| Genre | Horror, science fiction |
| Starring | Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe |
Plot
Creatures that hunt by sound have emptied the towns. The Abbott family lives on a farm and speaks in sign language. Lee and Evelyn have two children at the start of the story that matters, and Evelyn is pregnant. A nail, a toy, a contraction: any of them can be the sound that ends a day. The film follows the family through a birth and an attack, and through the question of whether the creatures can be hurt at all.
Regan, the daughter, is deaf. The family’s language was already hers. That is the plot’s spine, not a detail. The creatures are blind to anything that does not make noise. The farm is a set of paths in sand, painted boards, and rules the children already know too well.
Production
John Krasinski directed and co-wrote the film with Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who brought him the original script. He cast his wife, Emily Blunt, as Evelyn, and himself as Lee. Millicent Simmonds, who is deaf, plays Regan. Noah Jupe plays Marcus. The shoot was in upstate New York. The budget was about $17 million. Paramount opened it on April 6, 2018, and it grossed more than $340 million worldwide.
The sound design is the film’s special effect. Long stretches have no score and no dialogue. Marco Beltrami wrote music for the moments that need it. A sequel, A Quiet Place Part II, opened in 2021 after a pandemic delay. A spinoff, A Quiet Place: Day One, opened in 2024. Krasinski did not direct Day One. Michael Sarnoski did.
Cast
- Emily Blunt as Evelyn Abbott
- John Krasinski as Lee Abbott
- Millicent Simmonds as Regan Abbott
- Noah Jupe as Marcus Abbott
- Cade Woodward as Beau Abbott
Trivia
- Simmonds taught the cast sign language for the shoot. The signs are not decorative.
- Blunt was pregnant in real life during parts of the conversation about the role, which is not the same as the film’s pregnancy.
- The creatures were designed to be heard before they are seen. The mouth is the weapon.
- Krasinski has said he wanted a film parents could recognize, then a monster movie.
- The newspaper clippings in the basement are the exposition. There is no opening crawl.
- Part II continues from the night this film ends.