After seeing John Krasinksi‘s excellent directorial debut, A Quiet Place, you were probably left with a few burning questions. Like – and spoiler alert why the heck would any sane parent willingly choose to bring a baby into this dismal world? Where did the creatures come from? And what happens if someone farts? All valid questions (especially that last one; I mean, it is a legit concern). But fear not; Krasinski is here to answer all those questions, including the fart one.

The director stopped by the Empire magazine podcast to chat about his new horror hit. One of the biggest reveals of the interview is the origin of the killer monsters in A Quiet Place, Demogorgon-looking creatures who hunt via sound. The movie only hints at the events that set off the characters’ dystopian world, but never reveals what those nasty things are. Turns out, they’re from another planet, which makes it even less surprising that the writers briefly considered a Cloverfield tie-in. Krasinski explained:

They’re an evolutionary perfect machine. The idea is, if they grew up on a planet that had no humans and no light, then they don’t need eyes, they can only hunt by sound. They also develop a way to protect themselves from everything else – that’s why they’re bulletproof. […] The other idea was it’s also the reason why they were able to survive […] the explosion of their planet and then survive on these meteorites. Until they open themselves up to be vulnerable, they’re completely invulnerable.

Now about that breaking wind business. Even before you thought of it, Krasinski considered the potential of fatal farting. Noah Jupe, who plays the eldest son in the movie, was Krasinski and the writers’ sounding board for the rules of A Quiet Place. When Jupe mentioned the fear of coughing, it led Krasinski to determine that any loud bodily functions would have to be muffled in the same way:

He said, ‘What happens if we need to cough?’ And I said, ‘Well you guys would know to pick up a pillow and cough into the pillow.’ […] I only imagine now little Noah putting a pillow on his behind and farting into a pillow, knowing that it would save his life. Just try to crop-dust, as long as they’re not loud and violent you’re going to be fine.

And why Krasinski and Emily Blunt‘s couple would be crazy enough to bring an infant into a world where incontrollable loud baby crying is a quick ticket to death? Krasinski’s rationalizing isn’t anything the film doesn’t already suggest, that having another child was their natural, emotional response to their youngest son’s death. Sure, that makes sense, but still, is another kid really worth the risk of your entire family getting killed? I guess so. Maybe we'll learn more if A Quiet Place gets a sequel.

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