Silence. Complete silence. This isn’t really what you would expect at the movie theatre, right? Well, for this sci-fi/ horror movie, silence is the key to survival.

A Quiet Place is set in the future, after an invasion of terrifying aliens takes over a town by a single family: a father (John Krasinski), a mother (Emily Blunt), a daughter (Millicent Simmonds) and a son (Noah Jupe). These aliens are blind, but they hunt by sound. In order to keep their family safe, the father and mother take special precautions to eliminate any chance of sounds being made. There is no talking. The squeaky floors of the barn house they reside in are painted with special steps one must take to prevent any squeaking floor boards. The game boards the children use to play require cotton pieces. The family cooks its meals under the floorboards with a small fire. The conditions are pretty extreme. For the entire movie, everything is near silent; until it isn’t. After an unfortunate turn of events, a lantern turns over and the breaking sound of glass rings through the town. A rampage begins and the family must fight for their survival against the deadly aliens.

One twist that left me at the edge of my seat the entire movie was that the daughter was deaf. She could not hear a sound, especially when a creature was close by. The suspense constantly built up and left me questioning whether the family would survive. This movie has the perfect balance of family, horror, sci-fi, and suspense. The silence kept me guessing constantly.

The incredible effects and set went perfectly with the storyline and made me feel like I was trying to survive with them. The monster was definitely terrifying, with thousands of sharp teeth and extremely long legs. No wonder they were scared for their lives! The family was dressed as though they salvaged for clothing after the invasion and their town looked completely abandoned. Their house was built for survival; all of the details seemed to perfectly contribute to the movie.

One aspect of the movie that left a pit in my stomach was the fact that the mother was pregnant. She not only had to worry about her children and her husband’s survival, but she also had to be her own doctor and give birth all by herself. One of my favorite scenes, but also one of the scariest was when the mother was left alone with her newly born child and there was a leak in their house. Water makes sound and sound attracts the monsters. The father, son and daughter were out trying to make it home to their mother, but she was all alone with her baby. The floor was flooded with several feet of water and suddenly the creature appeared. Then, all of a sudden the alien went under water. It was completely invisible on the screen. This shocked everyone in the theatre–people were gasping and hiding their eyes. To be honest, so was I.

This was a thrilling and terrifying movie that churns your stomach and definitely keeps you from scarfing down your popcorn in your seat.