The "A Quiet Place" Experience

The year was 1995. It was a sweltering summer day in our small town, which was celebrating its annual peach festival. In the middle of the day, 15-year-old me and probably half the town were seeking sanctuary in the air-conditioned theater. It was so packed that people were standing in the back (probably against fire code, but no one cared).

The movie was Apollo 13. Not one of the biggest blockbusters in history, but I will never forget the experience of watching it in that packed theater. Because in those moments when those astronauts were re-entering Earth’s orbit and had lost communication with NASA, we all waited with baited breath. When the voice finally sounded over their radio, the entire theater burst into thunderous cheers.

It was unlike anything I had ever experienced in a movie theater. To me, those unique shared moments of an audience are what makes certain films cement in our memories forever.

You know what I’m talking about.

Waiting in line at midnight to see The Phantom Menace, and the entire crowd screaming when the scrolling words and music played. A brand-new Star Wars movie!

Watching the Blair Witch Project, which launched the whole “found footage” style of movies, and some people not knowing yet that it wasn’t real. (Look, I was 18 and my small town didn’t have great internet.)

I haven’t felt that special theater viewing feeling in a long time, until I went to see A Quiet Place a few weeks ago. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans are hunted by monsters that can only detect you through sound.

Most of the film is completely silent. The main family, which already knew sign language for their deaf daughter, has built their entire world about remaining as quiet as possible. The hushed mood of the movie, which sent anyone into a panic whenever even the smallest sound was made, carried into the viewers in the audience.

Whenever someone crinkled their snack wrappers or munched on popcorn, all the others would jump and treat that person to a glare.

Because the film was so quiet, you felt the terror the family felt at each noise. You saw sound hazards that could be made in every new scene. Would that hose break and water noise fill the air? An exposed nail – you know someone is going to step on it ad scream. And how in the world are they going to keep their new baby quiet?

With each moment, you sink more and more into the movie’s world and it is brilliant.

A Quiet Place is a good movie for many reasons. John Krasinski and Emily Blunt knocked it out of the park with their acting. And I didn’t know ahead of time that John actually directed the movie. The kids were phenomenal, and the themes of hope, survival, family and parenting were beautifully done.

But it was the feeling of comradery I had with complete strangers when we walked out of the dark theater into the noisy hubbub of the theater lobby that makes this film a great experience. We felt like we had survived…something…together.

A Quiet Place will be out of the theaters soon, and you can watch it when it’s available at home. But if you have the chance, I hope instead you take the time to be afraid of noise with a room full of strangers.