Scare-o-meter: 4/5
John Krasinski’s horror A Quiet Place (2018) is a film with a simple premise: in a post-apocalyptic world – in which they are the last surviving survivors in a small town – the Abbott family must live in silence for fear that they make noise and attract the terrifying creature that hunts them. Krasinski, who wrote, directed and stars in the film, cultivates a new format for the genre of horror, creating a film that is more accessible for audibly impaired audiences, making that the main reason why I love it so much. In A Quiet Place, the family’s survival is in part due to their eldest daughter, Regan, who is deaf and communicates with her family through sign language. In a Variety ‘Actors on Actors’ interview, Krasinski stated that it was ‘non-negotiable’ to cast deaf actress Millicent Simmonds in the role of Regan, not only for her ‘exquisite performance’, but because Krasinski was committed to presenting an accurate representation of life as an audibly impaired child. By casting a deaf actress for an audibly impaired character, Krasinski presents a film that alters the attitudes of audiences towards inclusive cinema and, in turn, makes horror a more accessible genre. The use of American sign language portrays a respectful representation of deafness through its central source of communication and dialogue, and its presentation of intimacy and relationships without the use of sound. I really love this film, not just for how beautifully it is crafted, but also because of the creative lengths the minds behind it took to diversify the horror genre and make cinema an inclusive space, proving that no matter who you are, no matter what your background, there is a place for you in the world of cinema!
“Emily Blunt and John Krasinski” by Jenn Deering Davis from San Francisco, CA, USA derivative work: ויקיג’אנקי is licensed under CC BY 2.0.