A Quiet Place (2018)

I will be the first to admit that I am a creature of comfort who doesn't understand fashion, let alone haute couture. But that doesn’t mean I did not like The Devil Wears Prada when it first came out, back in 2006. I even bought and read the book, despite it being about a world I had and still have zero interest in.

Like everyone else who liked the original and understood its lasting popularity throughout the years, I was eager to see the sequel. Even if, to be completely honest, I didn't see why it needed one. The first movie gave everyone their perfect "happily ever after": Miranda Priestly remained the iconic, untouchable editor-in-chief of Runway, Andy Sachs landed her dream job as a serious journalist, and Emily finally secured her place as Miranda's assistant.

With movie theaters still closed due to the pandemic, I decided to scour Netflix once more in search of a new movie. This time around, I discovered Earth and Blood which was just released.

Earth and Blood is a French crime-thriller directed by Julien Leclercq. It stars Sami Bouajila, a French-Tunisian actor who plays a man named Saïd. Saïd owns a sawmill in the midst of an expansive forest, but wants to sell it after discovering he has lung cancer; he also has a daughter named Sarah (Sofia Lesaffre) who is both partially deaf and mute, thus she has to communicate via sign language, but the only one who fully understands her is Saïd (as far as we know).

One of the sawmill workers, Yanis (Samy Seghir) hides a stash of cocaine within the farm after his half-brother, Mehdi (Redouanne Harjane) stole it. Mehdi entrusts Yanis to keep it safe, but a heavily-armed cartel run by Adama (Eriq Ebouaney) arrives at the mill to take back what was taken from them.

Earth and Blood is a slow burn, but it starts off with a shoot-out and robbery at a police station. After that, it’s mostly just waiting for the big action scene where Saïd has to protect his sawmill from the cartel. Saïd, or as I like to call him — French Michael Keaton — is a decent protagonist. He’s rightfully protective of his daughter, and cares for his co-workers as he lets them go after discovering the mill’s in danger, but not before paying them for their hard work.

Deaf representation is hard to find in media. It’s especially difficult to find in mainstream film where the Deaf community has been rendered practically invisible. But the National Center for Health Statistics estimates that about 10% of the U.S. population (28 million people) have some degree of hearing loss, and that about 2 million of that group are considered Deaf. So why don’t we see more Deaf and hard of hearing people onscreen? And when we do, why are they often played by hearing people?

Hollywood and popular media tend to relegate all people with disabilities to the joke, the caricature, the invisible. They use people with disabilities as props to non-disabled people’s stories in order to assuage their guilt.

However, recently Deaf representation in movies has been making steps forward. Modern mainstream audiences were exposed to Deaf characters and ASL in the 2018 horror hit, A Quiet Place. There, Millicent Simmons, a Deaf actress, portrays a Deaf protagonist. It made waves in the Deaf community for having a Deaf actress instead of a hearing one portray a Deaf character, and because ASL is the primary language of the movie. 

Now, CODA is another step forward for Deaf representation in film. The story follows Ruby, a CODA (child of Deaf adults), the only hearing member of her family as she faces a crossroads in her life: stay and help her family start their fishing business or leave for college to pursue music. 

There are so many good things about this film: the casting, the acting, seeing Deaf people onscreen. However, there are some things that aren’t so good: the negative portrayal of a CODA’s life, showing deafness as a burden, and the lack of racial diversity. 

After the 2018 surprising hit "A Quiet Place" brought something fresh to the horror genre, the announcement of a sequel may have been disappointing to some. A lot of the time, a sequel to an already successful movie is no where near as good as the original. Yet, John Krasinski once again shows that he is much more than Jim from "The Office."

"A Quiet Place Part II" picks up right where the first one ended, with the remaining members of the family now having to leave the protection of the destroyed farm. They must venture out into the unsafe world, still aware that the accidental knocking over of a bottle could result to their deaths. Evelyn (Emily Blunt) has to worry about not only keep her kids Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus (Noah Jupe) alive, but also her knew born baby. The family cross paths with Emmett (Cillian Murphy) and they help each other trying to survive.

Emmett says, "The people that are left aren't the kind worth saving." This statement was in all the trailers and promotion for the movie, and is also an indication of what was to come.

It's evident that Krasinski was given a much bigger budget for the second film, as the world is vastly expanded upon. Since it only focused on the family, the first film felt isolated and there was no need to explore more. The audience may have had thoughts about what was going on elsewhere, but it didn't matter for the story being told. Going into the second, the filmmakers knew they had to acknowledge other communities surviving for it to work. They were able to make the world larger without putting to the side what made the first film work so well, which is the family. Whenever a new place is discovered, at least one member of the family is there to witness it. It wouldn't be as effective if a whole community was found and the main characters were no where in sight. It's rare to be as invested in a family as done in this film.

Yet, the investment in the characters could've dwindled if the performances were subpar. Luckily that's not a problem for this film as all of the actors are as good as possible. Millicent Simmonds is basically the lead, and her being deaf in real life only enhances the emotions shown through her character as she's a determined young woman. Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy are seasoned actors who are always excellent and this is another display of their talent.

Jim Halpert directing a horror movie? I did not see this coming.

A few days ago, news broke that A Quiet Place Part II has been pushed back yet again, leaving millions, including myself, devastated. Paramount postponed the film a third time, and now it will be released on September 17, 2021.

To ease the pain, I decided to re-watch A Quiet Place. If you still haven’t seen this movie, please do so immediately.

The 2018 thriller takes place in an apocalyptic universe in which blind creatures with impeccable hearing have invaded the world. As a result, most of humanity has been wiped out. Those that are still alive, including the Abbott family, must go on with their lives in complete silence to avoid these frightening monsters. Anything is possible, but Lee (John Krasinski) and Evelyn (Emily Blunt) will make every effort to protect their children and battle against the horrors of their world.