What I Learned from Reading A QUIET PLACE Screenplay

It’s a solid horror movie with great concept and story. A very rare one. One of the best horror movie I watched since It (2017).

A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

(lots of spoilers — go away)

I rushed home after the theater and started reading the screenplay. I knew about the page count difference before I watched the movie but I wasn’t expecting this much change in the story.

Changes.

Script is 68 pages long. Movie is 95 min. If we go with the saying that a page equals to a minute, it doesn’t add up. Quick maths.

They both open the same; with the GIRL who has a HEARING AID in one ear but it cuts to FARMHOUSE right after. In the movie, we meet the family in the MARKET. This scene is not in the screenplay.

And there’s no little brother in the script. Only a girl and a boy. And a golden retriever. No sign of dog in the movie. It was first to cut off I think. Then comes a little brother to the movie with the market scene.

Before the title, movie establishes all the things it needs in this extra scene. Main conflict of the story; creatures that hunt by sound. And family dynamics, especially father-daughter. The terror which creatures bring with them. And death of the little brother (GIRL’S fault). And all this happens on screen. We witness it.

In the screenplay, all this happens off screen. Death of the little sister — she died off screen in the car accident — backstory. And MOM is already pregnant. FATHER comes to her with MP3 PLAYER in his ear. Script presents FATHER as cold, distanced patriarch figure. He puts one of his EARBUDS into her ear. They slow dance. This scene comes later in the movie. In the script, it’s their first scene together.

Father gathers everyone to dinner. They eat. After that, comes the Monopoly scene. Again, it comes later in the movie but script shows all this before the title.

When playing Monopoly, GIRL giggles. They get scared but it fades away. Nothing happens. And giggling kills the suspense for me. In the movie, BOY accidentally hits his elbow to a toy. And he gets scared to death after it because he already saw what creatures are capable of. One of them killed his brother right in front of his eyes.

After the title, script establishes — the NAIL on the stairs. And it happens to be there. In the movie, Mom accidentally causes it to stick up, in the laundry scene.

Screenplay uses father-daughter conflict as main drive like in the movie. But it originally comes from JOHN-IRIS (little sister). And passes on to JOHN-APRIL (girl with hearing aid) after IRIS dies. And all this is off screen, we see flashbacks later in the screenplay.

Movie also uses this drive. But we witness the main conflict between JOHN-APRIL. Little brother died because of her — she thinks. Father tries to tell that he doesn’t blame her. And this connects to the climax — father saying that he loves her right before he dies.

Movie and screenplay mostly follow different plot points. But they both carry the same feeling, same drive, same conflicts, same theme.

• Almost no scene with dialogue in the screenplay. We read dialogues only in flashbacks. In the movie, you can talk or make sound if you’re near a loud place like river. And it uses this as setup for lots of scene. In the script, it’s well — in the movie, it’s river.

• GIRL’S diary didn’t make it to final cut. Brother’s prank too. One of the other scenes that kill the suspense for me. Brother is not scared that much in the script.
• GOLDEN RETRIEVER dies of course.
• SCARECROWS — this is interesting. Screenplay explains why SIGNAL GENERATORS and HEARING AIDS hurt the creatures. And it uses SCARECROWS as symbols. That’s badass. But execution-wise, I liked the movie version. Movie doesn’t explain it. We only see that HEARING AID hurts the creatures. Then, the story of the GIRL figuring that out.
• NO FLASHBACK SCENES, no Monopoly-make-shift map scenes, no TURBINE scenes in the movie.
• GRAIN SILO SCENES — Only GIRL falls to the SILO in the script. In the movie, BROTHER falls and GIRL jumps in to save him.
• No Creature POV — Sonar Echolocation. I’m glad they cut it. Too much science-fiction. We don’t need that. It’s better the way in the movie.

Screenplay is basically Father searching for missing daughter. Father searches for her most of the time in the script. In the movie, Father searches both his daughter and his boy. Lots of other things happen at the same time. Everything goes awfully wrong and we like it this way. Tension builds up. I’m not sure if I even exhaled in the second part of the movie.

And I think the Father is not sympathetic in the script. JOHN KRASINSKI added too much to that character.

• No FATHER’S climax scene with FLASHBACKS in the movie. It’s a cliché. It was so powerful even without the flashbacks of memories. Because everything boiled down to that scene. JOHN KRASINKSKI — that scene, man… A punch in my gut. I can still feel it. He says “I love you” in sign language. He fucking says “I always loved you”. IN SIGN LANGUAGE TO HER DAUGHTER THAT CAN’T HEAR HIM RIGHT BEFORE HE SACRIFICES HIMSELF FOR THEM.
• No aftermath scenes, grave and baby IRIS. Movie closes more badass. EMILY BLUNT with shotgun in her hand.

Screenplay is so visual.

Even with the words, it paints pictures and emotions. One of the best I’ve read for some time. It uses graphics too. Monopoly, turbine, pins etc.

White spaces. It uses white spaces so effectively. Whole pages with only one sentence.

John walks to his family — creature between them.

JOHN’S LONGEST WALK OF HIS LIFE.

John is 30 feet away from the shed…

20 feet away…

10 feet…

5…

… SNAP.

John looks down in horror. A BROKEN TWIG under his foot.

The creature whips around. Rears up.

JOHN RUNS FOR IT —

THE MONSTER SCREAMS —

Less character than an average tweet, but it lasts seven pages in the screenplay. And it’s so powerful. The tension…

And screenplay doesn’t explain the surroundings, their way of life as detailed as in the movie. It leaves the work to the art department.

Same with the creature design.

Screenplay tells and shows that the creatures come from the space. Movie doesn’t say anything. It leaves us in suspense. And it’s better this way. Curiosity makes it more engaging.

The screenplay breaks so many so-called rules. Page count, mostly empty pages etc. But it tells a great story with so much emotion and tension. It has an interesting concept. Maybe that’s what it all needs.

Following the ‘rules’ is easy but it’s mechanic. Creating this much emotion is the hardest. You need to dig deep into your soul and work hard at it.

This movie does it well, and that’s why it’s a huge success. Watch it. Read it. And watch it again.

A QUIET PLACE Screenplay by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods — For educational and research purposes only.