Defiant1

Exactly. Too many movies feel this need to over-explain the "why" to audiences, which dumbs them down.

Saw the movie today and loved it. Excellent premise, great performances, incredible, Oscar-caliber use of sound (and silence), and great direction by Krasinski

Abob Teff

For some strange reason, when Emily Blunt was watching on the monitor, I thought the movie was on the verge of being ruined. For some reason, the way she reacted, I thought that they were going to reveal that people turn in to the monsters after they are attacked. I don't know why, it was just a hunch, and I am so glad it was a bad hunch.

I thought the creature design was fairly run-of-the-mill until that ... When that thing's head "opened up" like that ... that was fucking sick man.

Noonan

Didn't want to read through the full spoiler thread but is there any lore explained in the movie about what happened and why the world is the way it is or is this purely about the isolated family and their journey to survive?

RichC2

The movie starts on Day 89, you figure out the creatures along with the family but you get some information on them through newspaper headlines (which help setup the world around them) and established strategies for survival. It does its world building as the movie progresses, not as a singular exposition.

Hannibal

When the daughter went to go visit where her brother was taken, did you think that with her obviously mad from before, she was going to kill herself? She turned on the toy ship and set it down. If it went off so be it.

Defiant1

She snipped the cable though so the toy wouldn't make any sound.

The daughter kind of annoyed me, like a lot of kids in movies.

mhg83

I liked the movie but I think the movie would be scarier if they got rid of the musical score and just stuck with the sound effects.

Perkinsun Dzees

Enjoyable creature feature that plays like Alien crossed with Tombs of the Blind Dead. The big scare setpieces are well done, but the movie doesn't have enough depth or logic to make it memorable. Except for the deaf daughter, the family is dull as dishwater (athough Emily Blunt manages to give a stirring performance in an otherwise underwritten character).

The beginning bugged me. Why did the father take the batteries out of the toy if he wasn't going to give the toy back to his son to keep? The toy wasn't going to make noise without the batteries, so why be a dick and not let his son have it? And why place the toy and batteries where the son (or daughter, as so happened) could easily grab it after the parents left the store without them (which was another strange decision)? He's a little kid, of course he's gonna do stuff without considering the consequences. Either put the toy on a high shelf where the kids can't reach it or make sure the kids walk out of the store in front you. Maybe the father should have pocketed the batteries? Wouldn't those things come in handy in the situation they were in?

And why did the parents let their little son trail so far behind them? What if he trips and falls and starts crying? What if he gets distracted by something and wanders off? The parents wouldn't even know because he was so far behind.

And how come the father is genius enough to put together a hearing aid for his daughter that also manages to inflict pain on the monsters, yet he can't come up with a simple device that he and his family can carry around outside at all times and throw into the distance to create a loud sound distraction in case they accidentally make a noise and attract the monsters to them? Maybe a firecracker or two?

It's funny that some people compliment the movie for deftly avoiding exposition by not having the characters explain everything, but instead showing it in the newspaper headlines. Uh...the headlines are exposition! This is not much different than those old monster movies where you'd have the spinning newspaper appear onscreen with cheesy headlines like: "Monster attacks Tokyo!" "Thousands Killed as Monster Rampages!"

Telling us what's going on by showing a bunch of newspaper headlines isn't really that much more creative than just having the characters explain it themselves. In fact, in some ways it's lazier, since you can put heavily explanatory stuff in newspaper headlines that would sound corny if the characters said it. Whatever the case, it's still explaining things in big bold letters without much subtlety.

Kras or the other screenwriters must have seen Train to Busan since

RichC2

Pretty sure he didn't plan for the hearing aids to hurt the things, was just a side effect of one of his attempts to get her functional cochlear modules. And the newspapers just added non-critical detail to the world for those curious, it honestly adds little to it other than confirming they track with sound and it isn't isolated. Plus you couldn't have the stuff playing on the tv in the background like most movies do.

I had issues with the opening sequence as well, I assumed the daughter was supposed to be watching him as she was in the store. Though the mom really didn't have an excuse to not be carrying him, even if it was 89 days in.

Perkinsun Dzees

I agree that it was an inadvertent side effect of the device that the father hadn't originally intended, but the fact that he had created something that could harm the creatures, which the entire world had failed to do at that point, seemed to indicate that this guy was no dummy.

RichC2

Fair, tho he didn't create it exactly, he was tweaking a preexisting cochlear device, I had assumed the standard ones quit working when the creatures arrived due to interference. Same for the radios. He basically seemed to be amplifying the signals as he went. I just didn't get why the girl left it attached to her ear when it did nothing. He obviously had some know how, but never displayed an abundance of knowledge far behind a regular Joe that knows the basics of radios and stumbled across a Mars Attacks strategy.

I did like that it lowered their defenses but didn't kill them outright.

Abob Teff

I had heard the newspaper criticism on a podcast, but I am with Rich and I disagree with the notion that they were heavy-handed exposition. There was nothing in the papers that we didn’t already know or have figured out. They only served to world-build happenings outside of the viewer’s POV.

Nobody knew the hearing aid feedback would harm the creatures until the end, and it was completely accidental that the daughter discovered that (after the dad was dead) so I disagree with your criticism on that aspect. I will agree with you though (as I pointed out earlier) that you would have thought somebody (military, government, etc.) would have found that sooner.

I’ll also agree with you that I would have expected survivors to have created some sort of generated white noise (like the river) to mask their presence.

Perkinsun Dzees

My criticism had nothing to do with whether the father knew the hearing aid would harm the creatures or not, but the fact that he was able to tinker with it and even got it to function to a point where it could (inadvertently) repel the creatures, showed that he was no average Joe. Not to mention his whole set-up in the basement, the surveillance cameras and the fact that he was also able to put up a massive red light warning system and implement a huge fireworks set-up.

So, after all that time, he didn't think of having something that he and his family members could carry with them at all times when outside that could distract the creatures in case of an emergency? In case their bare feet stepped on something sharp and they let out a scream? Maybe have a couple of firecrackers taped to a couple of batteries. Or maybe a toy spaceship that you could turn on and then throw off into the distance. Seems illogical that the father would have never thought to equip himself with some item that can emit sound that he could use to draw the creatures away from him in case of an emergency.

Mr. Flix

I saw this today and the theater was surprisingly full for a Tuesday morning.

Loved. It.

It's well directed, the acting is great across the board (including the kids), and the tension level remains high throughout almost its entire run-time. And dang it, they actually make you care about the family. There were times I wished it wasn't a horror movie so that this family wouldn't have to face tragedy.

The mother's labor/stepping on a nail scene is one of the tensest prolonged moments I can recall in a recent movie. That was true edge-of-your-seat stuff.

I understand the gripe about allowing the youngest son to be walking last in line when they left the store. That was a stupid but not entirely unbelievable move. At least we saw some of the family blaming themselves for the death that happened as a result. Other than that, this was one of those rare horror movies where you never want to yell at the characters for making dumb moves. When they split up, there's a reason for it.

And sure, one could say it's unrealistic (but not impossible) that the military didn't discover the creatures' weakness. So what. I'd rather have this quiet, family-centered movie than one that features a military force in any capacity.

I loved it and I hope there's never a sequel. It ended on the right note of a little hope in the midst of a bleak situation. I'd rather imagine how the mom and kids go on from there. But I do hope Krasinski directs horror again in the future. I'm sure there are studios ready to hand him some cash now.

Mondo Kane

I expected a different ending and not one to resemble the conclusion of Signs, but I still really liked this overall.

During the truck attack, I wished we had heard the whole sequence muted as it had started. Would have been interesting.

whotony

Yikes that part needs to be in spoilers. Gives away a huge plot point in the beginning of the movie.
It is not shown in the trailers. Only the beginning of that is shown not the conclusion of it.

Maybe this should have been in the spoiler topic for the movie.

Maxflier

Isn’t this the “spoiler filled”reviews thread?

whotony

Well crap. Yes it is. I take it back.

RichC2

Inevitable:

Brack

Forget the letting the kid wander behind them and not watching, but what about, I don’t know, getting pregnant? Okay, fine, but then to go leave your wife with your son to do some fishing and go under a waterfall while you leave your pregnant wife alone with just your daughter who’s acting all pissy? Guess it was also to gather food, but given the world presented, I wouldn’t risk the last month of pregnancy by going out and doing some father-son time and anything could go wrong with her pregnancy.

Now having said all that, it was a well-made, tense movie. I especially liked the old couple scene, which I assume most folks decided to do, the feeling of hopelessness, was very believable.

I can’t disagree with a lot of the criticisms, but I decided to mostly just go with the premise, and we see how hard it is to survive like this, that any mistake, even a small ones, has dire consequences. Very bleak, and filled with dread, so it mostly worked well. Not sure I’ll revisit it anytime soon, but I’m glad I saw it at the theater in a Dolby Cinema, and thanks to T-Mobile for only $5.

Abob Teff

This is, but is Orbi-Wan’s review page?

whotony

That’s probably what my main point should have been.

Brack

And I laughed all the same

Mr. Flix

I think you're being a tad too harsh. While I agree that it's questionable whether it's wise to get pregnant in such circumstances, accidents happen. And when life is bleak like that, any sense of joy or normalcy would be welcome. You could view having a baby as their way of saying that they weren't going to let these creatures completely rule their lives.

Ditto the fishing trip. Not only do they need the food, but it was obvious the son needed some reassurance and quality time with his dad. I found the boy yelling from behind the waterfall to be a cathartic moment. Imagine being a kid who can never yell. That had to be an exhilarating experience for him. And according to the calendar, the wife was about three weeks away from her due date, so it seemed reasonable for the father/son to enjoy a little more time together.

Brack

Oh I get their rationale just fine, but it made the stakes at the end feel tacked on and cheap like, “oh no, poor innocent baby, it’s too bad you’re way too young to realize your only way of communicating will kill you, so here’s your coffin. Get used to it for another 3 years.” *sign*

I didn’t see it as an “accident” at all, but as a replacement baby. Call me cruel or harsh all you want, but I’m only going with the premise of the movie. Trying to live a “normal” life is just wishful thinking. Plus it ultimately got dad killed. I hope their kids find other kids still alive.

These aren’t criticisms of the filmmaking, but of the characters, and characters are ok to be flawed in my book. Without stupid decisions by characters, most movies wouldn’t even exist.