Two parents do what it takes to keep their children safe in a world full of creatures hunting every sound they can hear. Not a sound can be heard from the family hiding in silence, but all it takes is one noise and everything can go wrong.
Written by
JHatta
Plot Synopsis:
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Day 89
Amid the many, tattered missing persons fliers; a family quietly tiptoes barefoot through an empty store of a ghost town. The family's mother, Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt), carefully looks through a cluster of uncollected prescription bottles for her eldest son, Marcus (Noah Jupe), who is sick. Evelyn gives Marcus some medication and uses sign language to reassure her hearing-impaired daughter, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), that her brother is okay. Regan then checks on her younger brother, Beau (Cade Woodward), who is drawing a picture of a rocket on the floor. He signs to Regan, "Rocket. That's how we'll get away.", then climbs the mostly empty shelves and reaches for a space shuttle toy. The toy falls from the shelf, but Regan scrambles to catch it before it hits the floor. Meanwhile, the family's father, Lee Abbott (John Krasinski), has scavenged some electronics for a radio which will boost its signal as well as some cutting pliers for Regan. Evelyn signs to her family that "It'll be dark soon" and they prepare to leave when looks of horror come across their faces. Beau has the electronic space shuttle toy in his hands which Lee carefully takes from him removing its 2 AA batteries. He signs to his youngest son, "It's too loud." As the family departs, Regan sneaks the toy back to Beau who then grabs the batteries on his way out. The Abbotts silently walk back home on a trail of sand they've created. As they come to a walking bridge, they suddenly hear the electronic sound of the space shuttle toy from Beau who is pulling up the rear. A horrified Lee races back toward his son, but it's too late, an alien creature quickly seizes and kills Beau.
Day 389
The Abbotts are home on their family farm. Lee is in the basement of the farm house where he has set up an extensive surveillance system of cameras and monitors as well as his radio and electronics which he uses in the hope of contacting any other survivors. There are also scores of various news clippings which report of an alien invasion, as well as notes from Lee that read, "blind", "attack sound", and "armour". Evelyn, meanwhile, is in a cellar where she hangs a mobile she has crafted. Evelyn is pregnant. She sets up an oxygen tank which is connected to an infant breathing mask. It sits next to a covered, sound-proof baby crib. Lee has moved up to the top of his grain silo where he looks through pictures of Beau.
Evelyn asks Regan to tell her father that dinner is ready, which she reluctantly does. After silent prayer, they eat quiet foods on leaves of lettuce instead of plates. Afterwards, Regan and Marcus play Monopoly when he accidentally knocks over a lantern which sets the rug on fire. Lee quickly puts it out, and they quietly wait for the consequences. It seems as though they've dodged a bullet but then hear a loud noise on the roof. Lee looks out the window and is startled, but relieved, to see a raccoon fall from the roof. He heads down into the basement to work on a cochlear implant which will help his daughter hear. Evelyn comes down where they share a smile and a set of ear buds as they slow dance to Neil Young's Harvest Moon.
Day 473
While Lee is pouring down more sand on their walking paths, Evelyn is in the cellar checking her blood pressure. Her due date is just a couple weeks away. She places a stethoscope to her abdomen revealing a strong, healthy heartbeat. Regan enters the house being careful to walk only on the marked parts of the floor which don't creek and wants to go down into the basement, but her dad stops her. He has added small amplifiers from a stereo to her new cochlear implants and wants to put them on Regan, but she stops him and signs that they never work. Lee, disheartened, hands them to her instead and starts to set out on an excursion. He wants Marcus to come with him, but the boy is scared and doesn't want to go. Instead, it's Regan who wants to go, but Lee tells her to stay and take care of her mom. She runs to her room and tries on the new cochlear implant. When they don't work, she's devastated. Regan packs a bag which includes her cutting pliers and a wrapped object from her dresser, then leaves the farm.
Lee has taken his son to the river where he teaches him that making small sounds is okay as long as louder sounds are nearby. Next to a waterfall they can speak freely to each other w/out fear of being heard. Marcus asks his dad why he didn't let Regan come and if he blames her for what happened to Beau, because she blames herself. When Lee says it was no one's fault, Marcus tells him if he still loves her, he should tell her. During this conversation, Regan has arrived at the walking bridge where a makeshift memorial has been constructed for Beau. She unwraps the object from her dresser which we discover is the space shuttle toy, then uses the pliers to cut a wire which enables the toy to light up w/out making any noise. Back at home, Evelyn is carrying a laundry bag up from the basement when it gets snagged on the stairs. She manages to pull it loose causing her to fall and exposing the point of a nail sticking up from the stair.
On the way back home, Lee and Marcus are startled by an old man coming out of the woods, and then notice the dead body of his wife on the ground nearby. Lee implores the old man to stay silent, but instead he lets out a primal scream. Lee grabs Marcus and runs as the man is quickly scooped up and killed by an alien. Back home, Evelyn's water breaks. She heads down to the basement and impales her foot on the exposed nail coming up from the stair. She manages not to scream out, but drops the picture frames she was holding which draws an alien into the house. Evelyn pulls her foot off the nail, switches on the red light-bulbs which run across the property and serve as a warning signal, and searches the shelves for a mechanical kitchen timer. The alien slowly walks down the stairs into the basement listening for any evidence of life. When the timer goes off, the alien attacks it as Evelyn runs upstairs. She sees another alien in the front yard. Evelyn goes upstairs into the bathroom and sinks into the tub. She's starting to give birth as the alien comes upstairs.
Lee has returned home and is horrified to see that the red lights have been switched on. He signs the word "rocket" to his son. Then tells him, "I need you to make a sound louder. You can do it." Lee grabs his shotgun as Marcus sprints to a designated area and lights a fuse which sets off a series of fireworks. Lee searches the house and walks into the bathroom where he sees an empty bathtub covered in his wife's blood. He starts to weep believing Evelyn is dead, then discovers that she is safe and hiding in the shower w/ their new baby boy. Marcus, meanwhile, is walking back toward the house when he hears an alien. He makes a run for it into the cornfield, but runs straight into a tractor wheel, knocking himself unconscious.
Regan has returned home and notices the beam of Marcus' flashlight coming out from the cornfield, but cannot hear the alien coming up behind her. But as the alien moves closer, Regan's implant starts producing a high-pitched feedback which distresses the alien causing it to run off. Regan finds Marcus and they retreat to the top of the grain silo. Lee has taken Evelyn to the cellar and placed his new son into the sound-proof crib. Evelyn thinks about Beau and regrets that she didn't carry him on that fateful day, then, before getting some much needed sleep, makes Lee promise that he will protect their children. Lee leaves to look for the kids as we see water rushing down into the cellar. Later, Evelyn wakes to find that the cellar has flooded. On top of this, an alien has climbed down inside the room, and the baby is sleeping in the sound-proof crib but the top is open. Evelyn carefully picks up her baby and slinks to the back of the cellar behind the waterfall flooding the room.
On top of the silo, Marcus signs, "Don't worry, he'll come for us." but Regan shakes her head replying, "He'll come for you." All of a sudden a hatch on the top of the silo breaks causing Marcus to fall inside of it. As he's slowly drowning in the grain, the alien in the cellar w/ Evelyn is drawn out by the noise. The hatch breaks away completely and falls into the silo just missing Marcus. Regan, herself, jumps into the silo and successful saves her brother by pushing the hatch towards him so he can grab hold of it. However, she herself quickly sinks into the grain. Marcus climbs onto the hatch and pulls out his sister to safety. Regan and Marcus both sit safely atop the silo door, but then they hear a crash on top of the silo. The alien from the flooded cellar jumps in the silo as the kids cover themselves with the hatch door. They seem doomed until Regan's hearing aid once again lets out a piercing feedback forcing the alien to crash out the side of the silo.
Regan and Marcus crawl out of the silo and into a pickup truck. Lee has arrived on the scene and grabs an ax, but is quickly attacked by the alien which causes Marcus to scream. Upon hearing this, the alien heads for the truck and starts ripping it open. This time when Regan's cochlear implant starts its piercing feedback, she turns it off. Now the alien can safely resume its attack on the truck. Lee, who is badly injured, makes eye contact with his daughter and signs, "I love you. I have always loved you." He then lets out a yell to sacrifice himself and save the kids. They put the truck into neutral and roll it back to the house where they reunite with their mother.
Evelyn and the kids hear the alien approaching, so they retreat back into the house and head down to the basement. Regan, who was never allowed down there, sees (for the first time) the evidence of all the work her father put into repairing and creating her hearing aids. She is overwhelmed with emotion just as the lights begin to flicker. The alien walks down into the basement and has them cornered. Regan, however, scans a handwritten scribbling from her dad which read, "What is their weakness?", then takes a quick glance at the cochlear implants on his workbench. And Eureka! She switches on her hearing aid, creating feedback, and causing the alien to shudder. Regan then amplifies the feedback by holding the hearing aid up against a microphone. The alien collapses then slowly staggers back up on its feet, but Evelyn has grabbed Lee's shotgun and blows its head to pieces. When they see on the surveillance monitors that this little brouhaha has seemingly brought every alien in the county to their home, Regan turns up the speakers while Evelyn pumps the shotgun wearing a wry grin on her face.
Actress Millicent Simmonds has been deaf since infancy due to a medication overdose. This was the second film she starred in, with Wonderstruck (2017) being her first.
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Bryan Woods and Scott Beck's original screenplay contained only one line of dialogue.
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John Krasinski played the monster in a motion capture suit for a few scenes.
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Actor-director John Krasinski has said that the single greatest compliment he received regarding the film, was in a tweet from the master of the horror story himself, Stephen King: "A QUIET PLACE is an extraordinary piece of work. Terrific acting, but the main thing is the SILENCE, and how it makes the camera's eye open wide in a way few movies manage" (6 April 2018).
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The bathtub scene with Emily Blunt was done in one take. According to John Krasinski, who is also Blunt's co-star and husband in real-life, as soon as he said, "Cut," Blunt immediately fell out of character and asked the crew, "What's everyone having for lunch?"
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None of the characters' names are mentioned during the movie, with the exception of youngest son Beau, whose name appears in his room.
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The filmmakers purchased twenty tons of corn and hired local farmers to grow it.
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Shot in thirty-six days.
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The device Reagan wears is not a hearing aid, but a cochlear implant. This indicates that Reagan has a sensorineural hearing loss, which means her inner ear has sustained some sort of damage. The cochlear implant translates vibrations in the air into nerve impulses that the brain perceives as sound.
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The opening sequence was the last to be shot, as it required John Krasinski to shave most of his beard.
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Bryan Woods and Scott Beck's screenplay was named one of the ten best scripts of the year on Tracking Board's 2017 Hit List, an annual list voted on by industry professionals.
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John Krasinski almost turned down this film just as he was about to start work on the series Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018). When asked by the producers if he'd be interested in appearing in a horror film, John replied that he did not do horror. But when he was presented with the premise about a 'family that can't make any noise and you have to figure out why,' he jumped on board straight away.
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The final look of the creature wasn't fully figured out until pretty late in the process, during post-production.
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There are real family photos of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt and their children used in the film.
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In an interview with the website SlashFilm, screenwriters Scott Beck and Bryan Woods revealed that Paramount Pictures originally intended to incorporate A Quiet Place (2018) into the studio's Cloverfield (2008) film franchise. As Beck said in the interview, "I guess it crossed our mind and we had spoken to our representatives about that possibility. It was weird timing, though, because when we were writing the script, 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) was at Paramount. We were actually talking to an executive there about this film, and it felt from pitch form that there might be crossover, but when we finally took the final script in to Paramount, they saw it as a totally different movie." The screenwriters and director John Krasinski were ultimately relieved and grateful for Paramount to finally decide to allow them to make the film as a wholly original, stand-alone film, rather than to make it as a part of the Cloverfield film franchise, or any other film franchise for that matter. "One of our biggest fears was this [the film] getting swept up into some kind of franchise or repurposed for something like that," Woods added. "The reason I say 'biggest fear' - we love the 'Cloverfield' movies. They're excellent. It's just that as filmgoers, we crave new and original ideas, and we feel like so much of what's out there is IP. It's comic books, it's remakes, it's sequels. We show up to all of them, we enjoy those movies too, but our dream was always to drop something different into the marketplace, so we feel grateful that Paramount embraced the movie as its own thing."
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The film was written by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods for Paramount, who submitted the script to John Krasinski to star. Krasinski's wife, Emily Blunt, also read the script and then wanted to co-star in the film. In addition to starring in the film, Krasinski is the film's director.
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Since the characters communicate in American Sign Language to avoid making sound, filmmakers hired deaf mentor Douglas Ridloff to teach ASL to the actors and to be available to make corrections.
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During filming, the crew avoided making noise so diegetic background sounds (e.g., the sound of rolling dice on a game board) could be recorded; the sounds were amplified in post-production.
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Doors are never opened or closed throughout the entire film.
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In an interview with E!, John Krasinski said, "I would love to direct Emily Blunt, [but] I'd rather act with Emily than direct. I don't know if I need that responsibility. She's so good and I'd be so scared to screw it up, but [I'd be] happy to be in scenes with her. That would be really fun. We're always up for doing something. It's just got to be the right thing...Give us a good one! I would love it!"
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John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are married both in this film and in real life. As of the film's release, they have two daughters.
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It was initially intended to leave the American Sign Language un-subtitled, believing the audience would understand the subtext of what was going on. Notably, the first trailer does not subtitle the signing. However, while editing the sequence where Regan argues with her father regarding her hearing aids, it was decided by the filmmakers that the sequence would have to be subtitled. Subsequently all use of ASL throughout the movie was subtitled.
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Emily Blunt encouraged John Krasinski to direct the film.
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John Krasinski wanted his movie creature to be extra special and so discussed its general design and animations with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) veteran visual effects wizard Scott Farrar, who'd been responsible for some of the memorable effects in such films as Cocoon (1985), Backdraft (1991) and Transformers (2007).
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The bridge featured in the movie is the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Bridge in New Paltz, New York.
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This film marks the first time real-life couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt star alongside each other. They both appeared in The Muppets (2011), but did not share any scenes.
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During the press tour of this film, fans have grown to love Krasinski and Blunt's chemistry as a real life couple. They eventually turned out to be many of the fans' top choice for Reed Richards and Sue Storm for the next Fantastic Four reboot, should there be any. Krasinski has expressed interest in pursuing the role.
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The family name is Abbott. An abbot in Catholicism is the leader of a monastery. Abbots in monasteries, like Mr. and Mrs. Abbott, lead self sufficient communities which often support themselves through means such as farming, like the family in the film. Some monasteries are also silent, and so members will not wear shoes, will communicate infrequently with spoken language, and will pray together in silence like the family in the film.
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The initial inspiration for Millicent Simmonds's deaf character came from an earlier character sketch in Scott Beck and Bryan Woods' unfinished screenplay "The Piper," which was an adaptation of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
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Emily Blunt mentioned in interviews that she initially advised John Krasinski to cast Blunt's friend for the role of Evelyn Abbott. After reading the script (and loving it and the character), Blunt asked her husband to call the friend, fire her and cast Blunt instead.
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The third feature film directed by John Krasinski.
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Partial filming for the movie took place in Little Falls, New York.
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Significant location shooting took place on West Dover Road in Pawling, New York.
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While Evelyn is homeschooling her son Marcus, at the back on a white board, it reads the first four verses from Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare.
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Inspiration was also drawn from bog people: cadavers that have been mummified in peat, turning the skin black and giving it a sagging, leathery look."
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Production designer Jeffrey Beecroft headed the creature design, and special effects supervisor Scott Farrar created the creatures.
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Copies numerous musical ques from Jed Kurzel's score in Alien Covenant.
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During the scenes in Lee Abbott's (John Krasinski) basement, you can see a variety of newspaper articles on the wall, with one headline proclaiming that "[A] meteor hits Mexico with the force of a nuke", potentially alluding to how the creatures got to Earth.
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Simmonds actually made John Krasinski cry on set with a suggestion to change an important part of the script. During the climactic scene between Lee and his kids (in the truck), the original script just had him signing "I love you." However, Simmonds suggested that he should sign "I've ALWAYS loved you," which made Krasinski cry.
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As Regan visits her little brother's grave, you can see '2016 - 2020' inscribed on the headstone, which means the majority of the story takes place in the near future, circa 2021.
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That Blunt's character began suddenly bleeding a large amount of bright red blood was not a normal part of early labor, and was suggestive that something had gone wrong in her delivery, such as conditions where the placenta is damaged or begins to prematurely separate from the mother's body. These conditions can cause a lot of blood loss in the woman, the baby, or both. This explains both why Blunt's character lost consciousness after her delivery, and why there did not seem to be a problem with the baby crying right after delivery. The baby was born before entering the sound proofed room and was fairly quiet as he was being carried down to the room in Blunt's arms. The duration of silence from the baby after birth would be unusual unless there was a problem with the baby, such as blood loss, which was well explained by the sudden blood loss Blunt had in the bathtub.
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In the advertising of this film, there are many scenes containing the youngest child, Beau (Cade Woodward), in which he's seen causing a lot of noise and more problems for the rest of the characters. It's unclear whether or not this was done on purpose or if some of his scenes were cut, but he is killed within the first ten minutes of the film.
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The man in the woods who sacrifices himself out of grief over his dead wife is played by Leon Russom. Russom played a character in season 2 of Prison Break (2005) who did not speak either, although it was to prevent his voice from being recorded.
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The opening scene takes place on "Day 89", while the remainder of the film occurs on or after "Day 472", or one year and 18 days later. But days 472 and beyond clearly occur earlier in the fall than day 89. As is noted in the "Trivia" section, the opening scene was filmed last because it required John Krasinski to shave off much of his beard, so it was indeed shot later in the fall. This anachronism could have been corrected by changing "Day 472" to, say, "Day 442".
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Tokyo is misspelled on the radio checklist being crossed out in red.
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The movie supposedly takes place over the course of 473 days in the years 2020-2021, based on a year inscribed on a piece of wood that is briefly seen midway through the movie. The opening scene in a store is supposed to be during Day 89, however several prescription bottles are seen and the "expires by" date says 2018, at at least a year and a half before the movie takes place.
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Film takes place in Iowa yet all of the cars have New York license plates.
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The film takes place 472 days after an event. This means that over a year has passed, which would entail a winter season. The corn surrounding the farm wouldn't be able to live through the winter, and if it grew back the next year it wouldn't be in perfect towns. So unless the family planted the acres of corn themselves (without the use of farm machinery) the corn field wouldn't make logical sense.
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Taking blood pressure measurements during pregnancy is very important and its inclusion in the film was a good detail. However, when Blunt's character is taking her blood pressure, the blood pressure cuff is too low on her arm and she is not using the stethoscope to record the pressure. Given that using the stethoscope greatly improves the accuracy and makes taking the measurement easier, there was no reason that she should not have used the stethoscope.
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The film opens with the family entering a small grocery store, and we see that they are barefoot. Amazing how when they leave the store after shopping, their feet are still clean.
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While pregnant, Evelyn uses a stethoscope to listen to the baby's heart in the womb. This is impossible in real life; hospitals use dopplers to hear the fetus' heartbeat.
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Lee takes his son to the waterfall where he points out that natural sounds can mask their voices, yet makes no effort to take his wife there so that the screams from the impending childbirth could be hidden.
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Seems very unlikely that no one in the government, especially any of the genius level scientists working for them, figured out that the best way to repel a creature with extremely sensitive hearing was to expose them to an extremely loud or high pitched sound.
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survival|pregnancy|child in peril|deafness|bathtub|silence|minimal cast|sign language|very little dialogue|sound|directed by star|psychological horror|real life husband and wife play husband and wife|trying to avoid making noise|father daughter relationship|father son relationship|stepping on a nail|creature feature|space shuttle model|toy|pregnant woman's water breaks|fireworks|hearing aid|actor director producer writer|removing a battery|abandoned store|self sacrifice|mysterious creature|alien invasion|loss of son|baby|brother sister relationship|post apocalypse|alien|monster|noise|toy rocket|farmhouse|whispering|creature horror|audio feedback|supernatural creature|american sign language|near future|loss of brother|marriage|dead old woman|shotgun|waterfall|earphones|listening to music|three word title|screaming|blood|gun|woman with a gun|silo|cochlear implant|creature|childbirth|newspaper headline|cornfield|countryside|medicine|whiteboard|radio transmitter|long take|suicide|barefoot|barefoot male|barefoot female|walking on train tracks|night|pregnant|pregnant woman|stethoscope|shouting|rifle|newborn baby|newborn|surprise ending|
Argentina: Un lugar en silencio
Bulgaria (Bulgarian title): и‚о звƒк
Brazil: Um Lugar Silencioso
Canada (French title): Un Coin Tranquille
Czech Republic: Tich msto
Germany: A Quiet Place
Estonia: Kena vaikne kohake
Spain: Un lugar tranquilo
Finland: Hiljainen paikka
France: Sans un bruit
Greece: ˆνα ήƒ…‡ο μέο‚
Croatia: Mjesto tišine
Hungary: Hang nlkl
Israel (Hebrew title): Makom sha'ket
Italy: A Quiet Place: Un posto tranquillo
Lithuania: Tylos zona
Latvia (alternative title): Klusa pasaule
Mexico: Un lugar en silencio
Peru: Un lugar en silencio
Poland: Ciche miejsce
Portugal: Um Lugar Silencioso
Serbia: Tiho mesto
Russia: Ти…ое ме‚о
Slovakia: Tich miesto
Turkey (Turkish title): Sessiz Bir Yer
Ukraine: Ти…е мi†е
USA: A Quiet Place
Uruguay (original subtitled version): Un lugar en silencio
Movie Details:
MOVIE
