A Quiet Place Part II | Film Review

Remember the first time you took a chance on Jim from The Office’s new horror movie, and you walked into A Quiet Place expecting that hype to be completely overblown and you would find ample opportunities to snicker at your horror-loving friends who thought a movie with no diegetic sound could possibly terrify anyone? Do you also remember when you realized how absolutely wrong you were, how you couldn’t hear a pin drop for 90 minutes because of the intensity, you quickly understood what a stellar director AND actor John Krasinski is, and how you needed a new pair of shorts after it was all over? Well snuggle in, A Quiet Place Part II defies the law of sequels which dictates each follow-up further dilutes the appeal of the original and somehow manages to do it AGAIN!

The film kicks off with a “Day 1” explanation of what occurred when the sound-induced monsters first arrived, from the point-of-view of the Abbott’s (which affords Krasinski a chance for a brief appearance as the now-deceased Lee), while also serving as a perfunctory introduction of a new character in Emmett (Cillian Murphy). After this brief prologue, the sequel picks up immediately following the events of the first film.

The Abbott family is left reeling. Evelyn (Emily Blunt) is left alone to care not only for Regan and Marcus (Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe), but their newborn baby. In a world where loud noises matter, she might as well name the kid “Bait”.  Evelyn is an innovative survivor and crafts an insulated box with affixed oxygen to carry the baby long distances and hopefully keep them all safe. When Regan notices smoke a few miles away, they begin their descent into additional horrors.

Unlike the first film, which completely followed the Abbott family as they attempted to survive together, Krasinski and company decided early on to break them apart for their own journeys. Regan is resourceful and brave, like her father, and believes there to be a safe space out there, and sets off to find it. At the same time, Marcus stumbles into a bear trap and is incapacitated, leaving Evelyn to fend off both his pain and impending infection on her own while taking cover in a makeshift shelter.

Along for the ride this time is the aforementioned Emmett. What is wonderfully unique about Cillian Murphy’s mentally exhausted portrayal – he believes no one is worth saving at this point – is that regardless of the circumstances, it takes a full hour before you are completely assured of where Emmett’s loyalties lie. Is he a protector, the father and husband the Abbott’s used to know, or has his mind completely snapped and now relies solely on self-preservation? Murphy carefully orchestrates this duality which delivers an underlying intensity all on its own.

The remainder of the cast deliver as expected, based on our experiences in the previous film. Emily Blunt remains one of the most versatile actresses working today, continuously shifting between a protective mother ready to kill anything in her path to keep her children safe and that caring, nurturing woman these rascals need to keep them from making idiotic mistakes. Noah Jupe elevates his game as Marcus is forced to exact most of those aforementioned errors, and Jupe carefully sells us on the notion of a young child simply existing in an impossibly difficult world.

All of that said, the star of the film is Millicent Simmonds as Regan. It’s endlessly impressive how the writers have managed to go against the grain and use Regan’s deafness as a strength rather than weakness in a world where sound can get you annihilated faster than anything else. Regan and Lee learned in the first film that her cochlear implant has an opportunity to disrupt the unnamed monstrosities, and that is further investigated here by Regan’s fearless tenacity. Not a single frame of Simmonds performance feels fake or unearned, she is not Indiana Jones setting off on a reckless quest. Regan believes whole-heartedly this path could save her and her family from certain death, and like her father before her, she will do whatever it takes to accomplish this.

John Krasinski is a stellar horror director. Two times at bat, and both times he knocked it out of the park. His understanding and expanding on the use of sound and the absence of it – a director who doesn’t simply repeat his tricks, instead he elevates them – is further proof that Krasinski is a rare talent, equally as compelling behind the camera as in front of it. Several set-pieces are intercut between the different family arcs, and in lesser hands this would be an utter distraction, a failing of narrative connectivity. But these aren’t idle hands, Krasinski knows what he is doing. And I, for one, cannot WAIT for A Quiet Place Part 3.

Lastly, this film arrives precisely when the majority of the world finally gets a taste of normalcy again. Movie theaters around the country are opening back up, and this DEMANDS to be seen on the biggest of screens, ironically with the boldest and loudest of audio systems. We all need a cathartic release, and no film is currently better suited to scream with your neighbor than A Quiet Place Part II.

Follow our further discussion on A Quiet Place Part II via this episode of The Hollywood Outsider podcast: