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The female factor
Emily Blunt tells us why she thinks
women would fare well in a post-
apocalyptic world...
“I think people did see [A Quiet Place] as a
very feminist film and certainly I think John
just very naturally is, I think, attracted to
writing quite empowered, complicated female
characters. Because I hear this term like strong
female character quite a lot and I’m always a
bit like [cringes]. Because I think the mistake is
to then just write someone as sort of hard line
and tough and that equals strong. I don’t think
that’s the case. I think strength comes from
somebody who makes mistakes.
“With Evelyn, I think a lot of her power
comes from these deep maternal instincts that
run so deep through her and what she would
do for her children, and her optimism actually,
which you see a lot in the first film. You know,
just her ability to thrive within a hideous
environment, what she’s tried to do with the
home, and what she’s tried to create for her
children. Whereas I think John’s character
is all about survival and she’s about trying
to thrive.
“It’s very real. It’s a very, very real situation
that she ends up finding herself in. I mean, for
me in a crisis, other than my husband, I’ll call
a woman. I think women are really great in a
crisis. I think they are brilliant.”Blunt continues: “I think it was very
intriguing to John the idea of what happened
to the world when this first happened, when
the invasion first happened. This is a bigger
movie and a much more visually ambitious
film than the first one.”
Set, ironically enough, in a post-
apocalyptic 2020, A Quiet Place followed the
Abbott family: Lee, Evelyn and their kids
Regan, Marcus and Beau as they tried to
survive against an alien invasion that had
silenced the world. Because these merciless
aliens hunt by sound, the family had to live
a noiseless existence, communicating in
sign language. That is until Evelyn (Emily
Blunt) finds out she’s pregnant, leading
to the family holding up in an abandoned
farmhouse in the middle of nowhere and
desperately trying to stay quiet and survive...
Those who watched A Quiet Place in the
cinema can probably agree that the viewing
experience was something completely new,
with audiences desperately trying to stay as
quiet as the characters.
“The first film had a phenomenal affect
on cinemagoers all over the world,” agrees
Murphy. “Usually people are quite blasé
when going to the cinema; looking at their
phones, talking and heavily snacking
(which I kind of object to!). But I went
with my children and it was terrifying and
exhilarating and everything that you’d
expect from a movie like that.”
The first movie proved that you don’t
necessarily need big-budget effects to scare
audiences; that old-fashioned tension, an
ominous crack of a twig underfoot and
furtive looks can be more than enough. “We
learnt to give the audience a lot of credit [on
the first movie] for not a lot of information,
and still how gripping an experience can be,”
Blunt tells us.
The second movie, Blunt assures us, will
do the same: “The power of the fear factor of
these things is so rich, it’s so visceral, that
I do feel [John] still plays with that tension
because now the audience understands the
rules so well, there’s no rule-explaining now.
And the rule is simple – if you make a noise,
you’re going to die.”
Moreover from scaring the bejesus out
of audiences, A Quiet Place was also firmly
rooted in humanity – telling the story of
this normal family in a far less-than-normal
situation. “You have to tell a human story,
that’s what we learned from A Quiet Place,”
explains Blunt. “Yes, it’s a sci-fi horror, a sci-
fi thriller [but it’s also] a very human story.”
“The first film was very emotional,”
Murphy agrees. “It was about family reallyA QUIET PLACE PART II
It’s Oh So QuietBlunt believes Evelyn’s power
comes from her maternal instincts.