Most movies are longer, not to mention louder, than they need to be—so much so that I’ve become a running-time bigot. When I learn that a film I’m about to see will run its course in 90 minutes or thereabouts, I assume it to be a masterpiece unless proved otherwise. “A Quiet Place” is exactly 90 minutes long, or short. It may not make the masterpiece cut, but this taut horror thriller is enormously entertaining, because it’s organized around a terrific idea—the necessity of absolute silence.
What a concept, a film that pulls...