A Quiet Place Part II (2021) review

29. A Quiet Place Part II (2021)

Directed by: John Krasinski

Produced by: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, John Krasinski

Screenplay by: John Krasinski

Starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski

“A Quiet Place” was one of the most pleasantly surprising horror movies that came out during the 2010s; it’s intimate, subtle, well-acted, and above all scary. The finale was satisfying, but still open-ended enough to tease future installments, and that’s what we got…eventually. “A Quiet Place Part II” was one of the first big movies to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; it had its world premiere in New York City on March 8, 2020, and was postponed four days later, one week before its scheduled release date. Fourteen months later, it finally saw the light of day, continuing the story of the surviving members of the Abbott family in a world overrun by extraterrestrial monsters with hypersensitive hearing. Despite a slightly rushed pace and not many new wrinkles, it still has enough character development and production nuances to make for a worthy follow-up.

After a recap of Day 1 of the invasion, which found Lee (John Krasinski), Evelyn (Emily Blunt), Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Beau (Dean Woodward) at a Little League game, the film cuts to where the first movie ended, with Lee dead, Evelyn having just given birth to a new baby, and Regan discovering that the high-frequency audio from her cochlear implant is effective at fighting the creatures. With their home destroyed, they all set out in search of survivors, coming across an abandoned steel factory, where their old friend Emmett (Cillian Murphy) is staying, bringing them to his soundproof underground hideout after Marcus is injured by a bear trap. When they hear a song playing on the radio, Regan surmises that there must be a broadcast from survivors on a nearby island; so she plans to travel there—with Emmett reluctantly joining her—and use her hearing aid to send the high-frequency noise over the air so other people can use it to their advantage.

So unlike the first movie, where it was more about the parents teaching and protecting their children, this one places more emphasis on Regan and Marcus playing proactive roles. Well, it’s mostly Regan, as Marcus spends a lot of time at the factory hurt while Evelyn goes looking for supplies; it’s only near the end where he gets the opportunity to stand up and defend his mom and the baby. Nevertheless, the familial bond is still prominent, and that comes through in these performances; I was really struck by the scene where Regan tells Marcus she’s leaving, and you can see the pain and anguish in their body language, that they’re both afraid they might never see each other again. Millicent Simmonds gets so much focus and care, Regan feels like the main character, and it’s outstanding work; she shows off her versatility, as she clearly wants to honor how much her father tried to help and believe there’s still something worth fighting for, but also feels very vulnerable in these circumstances. I really hope Simmonds starts getting more attention through her presence in these movies.

A downside is that Emily Blount isn’t given many scenes to work with, not that she doesn’t do a great job. However, I feel the loss of Lee should’ve been addressed further; it’s only relayed in a few lines from Regan and Evelyn to Marcus and Emmett, respectively, and doesn’t feel so personal. Maybe the idea is that they’re now capable and prepared enough to keep surviving without him, but I would’ve liked one or two more scenes with Evelyn or Regan to really drive home the tragedy. New to the cast is Cillian Murphy; his Emmett is now a recluse who’s lost his wife and children, and is initially only concerned with himself, believing those still alive aren’t the kind of people worth saving. It’s an honest characterization of how some people will reach a point in a crisis where they just lose hope, and have to be coaxed back off the ledge, so to speak.

Much like with the original, John Krasinski really knows how to portray suspense through the sound design. Now benefiting from a budget over three times that of the first movie, we get a much wider variety of set pieces, starting with the initial invasion that features scenes of chaos in highly populated areas. One especially tense sequence has Regan on an abandoned train, which gets besieged by the creatures, an excellent exercise in nonverbal communication takes place in a scene where she and Emmett are ambushed by a group of bandits, and there’s a riveting running theme about the characters in the bunker slowly draining their oxygen tanks. Remember, they’re carrying around a newborn baby, so they need to find resourceful methods to stay quiet. There are also several long tracking shots of characters driving in cars as something is chasing them from the front or back; the cinematography is done by Polly Morgan, a relatively young but potentially great new name in the field.

When it comes down to it, “A Quiet Place Part II” definitely works as a sequel that evolves the characters and situations. Does that make it better than the first movie? I wouldn’t go that far; while the settings and techniques are solid, it does kind of take away from the astute detail that made the original really unique. It still has its nerve-wracking moments, but they don’t get under your skin the same way, probably because the action is a little too fast-paced and the themes don’t complement them as well. But it’s still a really good horror movie; it became the first film to gross $100 million domestically since before the pandemic, and helped get people excited about going to the movies again. There’s since been talking of a spin-off and a direct sequel that would complete a trilogy, set for release in 2024 and 2025, respectively, with Krasinski returning to direct the latter. We’ll see how they turn out, but if the same craft and passion are applied, they’ll be sure to make more box office noise, pun intended.

My rating: 8.5/10