A Quiet Place

The film A Quiet Place (directed by John Krasinski [Paramount Pictures, 2018]) pictures a dystopian future where to be safe, a family must be absolutely silent. Alissa Wilkinson writes, “Virtually any sound draws huge, vicious creatures out of the woods that snatch the offender. The family is at an advantage, having had to learn sign language anyhow to communicate with their [deaf] daughter, and that might be why they’ve managed to elude the monsters thus far.” But the mother is pregnant, and a crying baby could be the thing that kills them all. Wilkinson continues, “The solution involves a tiny oxygen tank and mask, a soundproofed basement, and a coffin-like crib that muffles any noise. That’s the kind of detail that animates A Quiet Place, in which all sorts of daily tasks are complicated by the imperative to stay absolutely silent: cooking, doing laundry, learning history and math, walking around a creaky old farmhouse. The movie draws us into that silent world very quickly, and every noise and potential noise rapidly becomes fraught with peril” (Alissa Wilkinson, “A Quiet Place Is a Terrific Horror Film—and a Tender Movie about Parenting,” Vox, April 4, 2018,https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/4/17189408/quiet-place-review-horror-emily- blunt-john-krasinski). Amid all the danger and stress of this apocalyptic world, the parents model going to every length possible to protect their children. They make their home as safe as they can, setting up a bunker of sorts in the basement, laying down sand on the path to town and walking barefoot in order to travel silently, and even putting felt on the bottom of board game pieces to facilitate silent play. The parents are a refuge, a safe place for the children. And in the end, one makes the ultimate sacrifice to protect their children. Like the parents in A Quiet Place, God is our safe place. We face monstrous dangers—sin, death, and the power of the devil—but Christ made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. With the psalmist, we “will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”