The third entry in Paramount’s post-apocalyptic series has quickly joined the ranks of top horror franchises. In fact, while properties such as “The Conjuring” have had diminishing returns lately, the “A Quiet Place” movies have defied the odds and expanded their audiences in the year since the original’s release. Prequels are generally tough to sell, especially in the world of these films, as moviegoers are already much ahead of the characters in the story, knowing the shortcomings and hacks on how to survive.
After years of anticipation, a prequel-cum-spinoff has finally managed to live up to all the expectations. The film, set on the first day of the invasion, takes us back to the beginning of the outbreak. The backdrop becomes New York City, where people are hitherto unaware of the possible way for them to survive by remaining silent at all times. Thankfully, the latest installment manages to capture the experimental nature that sets apart the original from most horror movies. Amidst competent storytelling, there are also aliens lurking on the periphery where our characters must find clever ways to survive through the apocalyptic nightmare. While we wait for a now-confirmed sequel to the global franchise, here we take a look at 6 other films you might enjoy if you like the “A Quiet Place” movies.
1. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
Confinement has always accentuated and channeled the looming danger in most films of this genre. Most of us have already survived the chaos of many found-footage monster films out there. But in this 2016 film, survival isn’t about outrunning the alien but the unraveling mysteries that surround it. That’s what makes “10 Cloverfield Lane” quite literally a contained film. The majority of the action here unfolds down in the bunker, except for the opening and the end section of the last act.
A thematic successor to its 2008 counterpart, the film digs into the underlying questions that breed tension with a gripping narrative. Everything here feels tangible in its claustrophobia, at once making you feel more intimate with the characters. The stakes feel personal as the narrative point of view acts as a societal microscope where the female experience, magnified via Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), becomes the focal point. It may very well be the very next film you’d want to watch after “A Quiet Place: Day One.”
2. The Descent (2005)
A British horror-thriller that basically defies all the generic mis-tappings of a bloated American blockbuster, “The Descent,” would fill you up with enchanting mythic energy. The titular drop refers to a cave-diving odyssey undertaken by a group of women. Soon, it morphs into a hallucinatory plummet into the abyss where the worst fears are realized.
The countless ingenious camera moves take us through the tight canals and slimy bodies, stimulating both your corporeal and inner psychological sides. The eight women who lead this operation strain their physical and mental limits only to soon discover there’s no way out but through. Images do as much for this film here as sound does for “A Quiet Place”; the gothic gargoyles and psychic sequences provide an unforgettable subliminal experience, making it one of the best films on the list.
3. The Others (2001)
Alejandro Amenábar’s surprising sleeper classic has slowly earned a reputation for being one of the better thrillers of its time. The film, released almost 25 years ago, was received fairly well by critics and had grossed over $200 million at the box office. Starring Nicole Kidman in a riveting lead performance, the gothic ghost story follows Grace Stewart, a widow who lives in abiding darkness with her two young, photosensitive children in post-WWII England. When she and her children all start having vivid hallucinations, Grace becomes convinced the house is haunted and must take some irreversible measures to protect her family.
A film that at its time drew huge comparisons to “The Sixth Sense,” Amenábar’s command over constructing a languorous and lucid atmosphere lures us away from the conventions of a lesser standard-issue horror movie. That’s what makes the last act reveal less of a reverse-engineered trope and more of an adroit re-contextualization of the whole story.
4. The Invasion (2007)
Back in the 1950s, when Jack Finney first wrote his seminal sci-fi novel, “The Body Snatchers,” he could never have imagined what an enduring metaphor its thematic premise would become. In fact, the story’s outline may as well have inspired the basis for “A Quiet Place” themes. 2007’s “The Invasion”, takes us into a harrowing journey through a world where the only way to stay alive is by staying awake. The mysterious crash of a space shuttle soon leads to the terrifying discovery that there is something alien within the wreckage. Those who get exposed change in menacingly inexplicable ways.
When a psychologist and her colleague learn of this rampant epidemic, they gradually learn how it transforms anyone who comes into contact with it into unfeeling drones in their sleep. One of the aliens even persuasively argues that if everyone were like them, there’d be no wars and genocide in the world. Well, even if its politics may get out of hand at times, “The Invasion” may be the closest film in spirit to the theme of this list, considering its delicately wrought depiction of events.
5. Crawl (2019)
This fairly contemporary film may not be regarded as ‘high art,’ even relative to the genre films on the list. But it’s yet another one that offers up a satiating amount of engaging disaster package with thrills along with gator effects of riveting believability. Far from a top-shelf entry to the genre, it might still sink its teeth into your skin just deeply enough if you’re looking for some self-aware action and cheap thrills mercifully devoid of any deeper subtext.
After all, who wouldn’t like the idea of watching alligators wreak havoc in the dreary aftermath of encroaching floodwaters? “Crawl” makes for a breezy, easy watch, especially if you have grown tired of all the generic alien movies. It’s quite easily B-movie heaven, with exaggerated gore and edge-of-the-seat thrills all offered in an accessible runtime of 87 minutes – the kind of film that should be mentioned more on such lists.
6. Annihilation (2018)
Alex Garland’s potentially most complex and polarizing film is also the least of a genre film in itself. It’s a clash of psychedelic sci-fi with Lovecraftian themes that make the psychological turmoil of the mysterious zone, ‘The Shimmer,’ more palpable. It appears on our planet after an apparent alien invasion. After her husband goes missing on an expedition inside this mysterious location and then reappears as a seemingly different person, biologist and former soldier Lena joins a mission to uncover what happened at Area X. A sinister and mysterious phenomenon expanding across the national coastline, the expedition around this area unravels a world of dichotomous landscapes and creatures that endanger both Lena and her team’s lives as well as their sanity.
While the apparent alien acts as a more conventional narrative push, much of “Annihilation” attains a deeper meaning in its exploration of how we as humans confront and fear the unknown. It could be a form of life that is widely different from our own or a language we can’t yet comprehend – anything alien might destroy us. But, in the meantime, unlike most other films of the genre – and, by extension, ones on this list – it’s also about how we destroy ourselves.
