Like rip-offs of Die Hard, A Quiet Place rip-offs are quickly becoming a genre unto themselves. After the success of that film, we’ve had similarly themed movies about monsters that roam the post-apocalypse and hunt humans in idiosyncratic ways. Movies like Birdbox, Arcadian, and Never Let Go followed A Quiet Place’s blueprint and changed the rules to their monsters’ quirks and/or weaknesses ever so slightly. Now here comes Elevation, a surprisingly sturdy variation on the theme.
The gimmick of this one is that the monsters can’t live above a certain elevation (hence the title). That means all the survivors took to the hills and started living in the mountains after the shit hit the fan. Will (Anthony Mackie) has a sick kid and he’s all out of filters for his breathing machine. That means he’s got to venture across “the line” and go into town for supplies. He gets a bitter scientist named Nina (Morena Baccarin) to join him on his quest since she’s been trying to find a way to kill the monsters once and for all. Katie (Maddie Hasson), a pseudo-love interest, also joins the group and sort of acts as a third wheel.
Director George (The Adjustment Bureau) Nolfi brings a modicum of suspense to the scenes of the survivors trekking through the wilderness. The “Reapers” look like armor plated cockroaches and charging bulls that have been Brundlefly-ed together. They aren’t exactly memorable, but they look better than the creatures typically found in these Quiet Place knockoffs. The script also wisely keeps the logistics of the monsters’ weakness purposefully vague. The “rules” sometimes feel a bit arbitrary, but they do lead to some suspenseful moments. I’m thinking specifically of the scene when the creatures hunt their prey by detecting the CO2 the heroes exhale, so they are forced to hold their breath.
The trio of performers have chemistry to burn, which gives Elevation much of its spirit. Mackie makes for a solid leading man for this sort of thing. Baccarin is especially good as the sarcastic scientist who constantly complains and bickers with Hasson.
Sure, no one reinvented the wheel on this one. However, if you’re looking for a lean and mean ninety-minute creature feature, then it will fit the bill. As far as A Quiet Place rip-offs go, Elevation ranks higher than most.
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