This film had some of the most infuriating characters and inconsistent logic I've ever seen in a film - which is a shame as I was very interested in the premise.
I'm not a horror-movie fan, and I really enjoyed this - probably because it's more suspense, than horror. However, to enjoy this, you *really* need to turn your brain off, because the parents do two very UNFORGIVABLY-stupid things in the movie. (See below for spoilers on that.) But the good is pretty damn good: It’s unique (AFAIK, since I don’t normally watch these kind of modern flicks), the sound is amazing, the suspense is top-notch, and all actors, including the kids, and especially Emily Blunt, are terrific. Also, high-praise for John Krasinski for an early directorial effort, especially directing his wife for the toughest scenes of all. Seriously, she should have been nominated for an Oscar (she WON the SAG award for Best Supporting Role).
SPOILERS:
I did have a major problem with Evelyn (Emily Blunt) getting pregnant *after* these events began, for three big reasons: 1. Why bring another child into this alien-infested world? 2. …Especially after they already lost a child to the aliens. 3. A baby CAN NOT be silenced (nor can the mother giving birth). And what’s most frustrating about this, is that this issue could have been fixed SO EASILY, by simply having Evelyn be pregnant at the beginning of the film, which starts at 89 days since the alien invasion - so make her four-months pregnant. Then make the follow-up scene 5 months later (instead of a year) and boom, having the baby totally makes sense; couldn’t be helped - it also makes perfect sense why the time jump (to get to the birth, which is an AMAZING scene, granted). This is a no-brainer, and even if they needed to do reshoots to fix this, it’s literally two locations to do so (grocery store and bridge). That *almost* ruined the movie for me. The other unforgivably-stupid thing the parents do is in the beginning, when they decide to walk in FRONT of their youngest child to make sure he keeps quiet. (and for the record, I’m a parent. ;-)
What a great set of scares! Loved the premise, the jump scares felt mostly natural, and the not-jump-but-accidental-noise scares were fittingly worse. That first scene was “great” for pulling you right into their world.
However, there was just so much happening that it was hard to really keep in the tension.
In the last act it felt a lot like all the stops were artificially pulled out for the sake of making it scarier (the water in the basement, the silo), but then they distracted from the real tension (the baby, mainly, but also their grief).
And then a few things really bothered me:
the fast and loose way the creatures responded to noise, why he dropped the axe instead of using it for a last stand, and why the daughter didn’t figure out the power of her cochlear implant one incident sooner (in the truck). After some of the great subtext in contemporary horror movies lately, I also wasn’t sure whether this had any.
Anyway, this was solid! A well-crafter monster movie, and solid direction from Krasinski. I would (will) watch more!
It was such a good movie, and I hate to say anything bad about a movie with Emily Blunt, but of course with a topic like that you can find a lot of things that don't make sense. Also
the ending with the father dying while he could have easily saved himself, kind of ruined the movie for me
Bene, la donna era incinta. Visto che nei pressi di un forte rumore (come una cascata o un ruscello) l'ulteriore rumore risulta mascherato, perché non si sono trasferiti in queste zone rumorose ben prima del parto? Poi sarebbe stato troppo facile, eh.
With the obvious plot holes aside, I really like the concept of this film, it has a lot going for it on that front. Watching it with a group of friends we almost felt guilty by laughing or commenting during the movie because it's such a quiet film. In a way, it's a really interesting psychological connection with the characters i.e. they have to be quiet and so do you. It's good stuff.
Those plot holes prevent it from being totally spectacular, but as far as horror movies go I'd say it's a solid entry.
If you disregard plotholes then this movie is fantastic because it is extraordinarily tense.
The firework sequence was immensely gratifying.
Looking forward to what John Krasinski will write next. However, when taking into account plotholes, then the movie makes little sense.
The army could've just used some sort of noise emitters and kill everything that comes to it. There's many more similar examples. Also the ending was out of character. Evelyn just lost her husband but is pumped to go kill the rest of the monsters like nothing happened; to avenge her husband I guess. As someone else pointed out, it's too American which does not fit what came before.
Overall this was a sci-fi thriller with some interesting ideas. But I didn't find the move that great. I would have liked more backstory, how did these creatures first get discovered, how much of the world population was destroyed by the creatures, and why didn't anyone think to
use sound as a weapon against creatures who are super sensitive to sound before the little girl figured it out by accident
? Also, there were too many moments where the characters actions made no sense, like
why did the father not jump out of the way of the creature and try to hide after distracting it while his kids escaped and instead just stood there to get killed? After surviving for 400+ days how are the kids still don't understand how things work, are they just not teaching them? How are they able to generate power without making noise? Why is it the creatures don't attack waterfalls all the time if they only respond to loud noises? What are the 3 creatures in the area doing all the time that they are seconds away from any noise the family makes no matter where they go? How is they can hear noises from across the area but they don't respond to noises like breathing, running, running water to washing clothes, or any other sound? etc..
Great use of sound and it was a well-made movie. I also wish they didn't use so many jumps scares as they had such a cool creepy concept they could have done without the jump scares.
Felt like a long short film. Entertaining though with a not-boring concept. As with many horror movies, the monster ruins it for me. Less is more when it comes to scary.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 33
heat_
Tons of logic issues take the joy of watching a proper suspense movie. I find the movie overrated. Not a must or even should watch.Dan Bull
This film had some of the most infuriating characters and inconsistent logic I've ever seen in a film - which is a shame as I was very interested in the premise.danisanna
Awesome!TomReagan
I'm not a horror-movie fan, and I really enjoyed this - probably because it's more suspense, than horror. However, to enjoy this, you *really* need to turn your brain off, because the parents do two very UNFORGIVABLY-stupid things in the movie. (See below for spoilers on that.) But the good is pretty damn good: It’s unique (AFAIK, since I don’t normally watch these kind of modern flicks), the sound is amazing, the suspense is top-notch, and all actors, including the kids, and especially Emily Blunt, are terrific. Also, high-praise for John Krasinski for an early directorial effort, especially directing his wife for the toughest scenes of all. Seriously, she should have been nominated for an Oscar (she WON the SAG award for Best Supporting Role).SPOILERS:
hugeposuer
Wished I had seen this in the theater. At home it just kinda felt like Jurassic Park with sign language.Andrewski
What a great set of scares! Loved the premise, the jump scares felt mostly natural, and the not-jump-but-accidental-noise scares were fittingly worse. That first scene was “great” for pulling you right into their world.However, there was just so much happening that it was hard to really keep in the tension.
And then a few things really bothered me:
Anyway, this was solid! A well-crafter monster movie, and solid direction from Krasinski. I would (will) watch more!
janinavuoti
It was such a good movie, and I hate to say anything bad about a movie with Emily Blunt, but of course with a topic like that you can find a lot of things that don't make sense. AlsoDaniloFreiles
DisneyStitch
With the obvious plot holes aside, I really like the concept of this film, it has a lot going for it on that front. Watching it with a group of friends we almost felt guilty by laughing or commenting during the movie because it's such a quiet film. In a way, it's a really interesting psychological connection with the characters i.e. they have to be quiet and so do you. It's good stuff.Those plot holes prevent it from being totally spectacular, but as far as horror movies go I'd say it's a solid entry.
On cinema at the cinema
Absolutely wonderful! 6 bags of popcorn, and I can't wait for John to bring us the next one!Cynicus Rex
If you disregard plotholes then this movie is fantastic because it is extraordinarily tense.samoan
Overall this was a sci-fi thriller with some interesting ideas. But I didn't find the move that great. I would have liked more backstory, how did these creatures first get discovered, how much of the world population was destroyed by the creatures, and why didn't anyone think todevilsadvocado
Felt like a long short film. Entertaining though with a not-boring concept. As with many horror movies, the monster ruins it for me. Less is more when it comes to scary.crazy_bitch
Good idea, bad film.Armoreska
Couldn't they find a house near a waterfall/noisy river? Or build a hut there.Showing items 1 – 15 of 33