Like it or not, the future of entertainment is streaming…

And while the Netflix era comes with its perks, it also means that your streaming homepage is likely overcrowded with titles. With an excess of choice, picking the right movie can make what was supposed to be ninety minutes of escapism feel an overlong chore. That’s why this week, we’re making an Executive Decision to narrow down your watch-list with a single flick.

Up next is John Krasinski’s 2018 thrillride, ‘A Quiet Place.’ Set in a dystopian future where sound-sensitive aliens hunt and kill anything that makes a noise, the movie follows the Abbott family’s hair-raising attempts to survive in silence on a rural farm, welcome a newborn baby and ultimately, shut the fuck up. And while it’s true that a movie like this is probably best enjoyed in the cinema with fellow squealing movie-goers, ‘A Quiet Place’ is equally enjoyable white-knuckled on the couch with a mountain of popcorn. So, here’s a list of five reasons you should watch ‘A Quiet Place’ tonight. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR7cc5t7tv8

1. The silence…duh.

Given that the entire premise of ‘A Quiet Place’ revolves around keeping quiet, it should come as no surprise that silence is one of the film’s main characters. With almost no dialogue, the movie relies on hushed sound design and quietness itself to ramp up the thrills. Jump scares are doubly frightening when they come before a sequence of deafening silence, and the simplicity of this premise makes it all the more electrifying. Since the films’ release, we’ve seen a slew of movies in which the senses can catalyse characters’ terror (ahem, ‘Bird Box,’ ‘Hush’ and the verging-on-plagiarism ‘The Silence’), but none of them compare to the sensory overload (or underload?) of ‘A Quiet Place.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YDSDyT-QDg

2. Creature feature.

While it’s mostly a horror/thriller/family drama, there’s also an element of science fiction at play in ‘A Quiet Place.’ We’re only given breadcrumbs about their origins, but the mysteries of the aliens accelerate the already fast-paced plot. In a movie with no needless exposition, Krasinski uses world-building to feed nuggets of information about the aliens’ weaknesses, but that wasn’t enough to stop the millions of fan theories that sprung up on Reddit after the films’ release. Luckily, audiences now have ‘A Quiet Place II’ to find out exactly why the creatures are so tone deaf. 

3. Krunt.

Most viewers will know John Krasinski and Emily Blunt for their individual work, as either the prankster on ‘The Office’ or the latest iteration of ‘Mary Poppins.’ But far less will know that the actors are actually married IRL (hence the Hollywood nickname Krunt). This real-life pairing makes ‘A Quiet Place’ not only an exercise in masterful performances (and direction of Krasinski’s part), but also in trying to work out who exactly is punching above their weight off-screen. It’s ultimately too hard to decide, as both halves of the charming power couple bring their A-game to the film. 

4. Bathtub sequences and inappropriately-placed nails. 

As mentioned, the tensest moments of the film come courtesy of Emily Blunt’s powerhouse acting, namely in a scene where her character steps on a nail. Accidentally upturned from the floorboards earlier-on, Krasinski sets up the nail as a source of pending doom, and when Evelyn finally steps on it, it’s like a crescendo of vicarious pain and terror (cue a hair-raising attempt to quieten the squeal). Later, Evelyn’s inability to voice her pain is used again when she goes into labour in a bathtub as a creature looms nearby.  Any questions about why the fuck the Abbotts would decide to have a baby are quickly forgotten in the movies’ most exhilarating sequence. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvN-sz7EMY0

5. Cliffhangers (now answered)

The ending of ‘A Quiet Place’ neatly caps off the Abbott’s story. With a final scene that begs even more questions, the cliffhanger matches the whole film’s edge-of-your-seat-ness while setting up the chance for a promising new sequel. Thankfully, the fate of the Abbott’s wasn’t totally abandoned, with Krasinski directing and releasing ‘A Quiet Place Part II.’ Those eager to follow the Abbott’s a second time around should first see their tribulations in the OG ‘A Quiet Place.’  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpdDN9d9Jio