A Quiet Place - 1 nomination

Sound Editing - Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

A Quiet Place is a SCARY film.  The world has been overrun by aliens who are determined to kill all beings, and they find you when you make even the slightest sound (let's not even think about how anyone survives without expelling gas for a year).  The Abbott family lives on a farm, and they have somehow managed to keep their family alive and intact, with occasional but dangerous foraging through a nearby town.  Because one daughter is deaf, they are able to communicate without actually talking out loud.  Still, a moment of humanity results in the tragic loss of the youngest child, which could partly be attributed to the oldest daughter's negligence.  It is a crazy world, and this family wants nothing more than to figure out what the aliens' weakness is, and how they can potentially overcome the threat.  Still, their lives are maddening where any dropped glass could spell death for the entire family.  Complicating matters further, Mrs. Abbott is pregnant giving new meaning to a silent birth, and what do you even do with a screaming baby? 

I'm not a big fan of jump-scare films, and admittedly, I watched this movie holding hands with my mother the whole time.  But, it was incredibly clever, very well acted, and even let me practice my own rusty sign language.  I don't think I could watch it again because I'm a big chicken, but for my least favorite genre, I enthusiastically endorse this one.