A Reel Review: A QUIET PLACE PART II

In 2018, John Krasinski made an impressive leap from the small-screen to the big-screen, directing and co-starring in the horror thriller A QUIET PLACE; one of the surprise hits of the year that had audiences shitting bricks. Here in 2021, after a delay of a year, Krasinski returns with PART II; following the Abbott family as they try to survive in a world decimated by deadly creatures. 

 

After the events of the first film, the surviving members of the Abbott family; mom Evelyn (Emily Blunt), along with her hearing-impaired daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), son Marcus (Noah Jupe), and her infant son…make their way out of their isolated home to search for more survivors…and hope. 

 

Written and directed by Krasinski, A QUIET PLACE PART II re-establishes the world the Abbott’s are living in through an extended flashback; not a TV-episode type that recaps the previous happenings, but an extended prologue that shows the day the deadly, spindly, blind-yet-noise-sensitive creatures arrived on Earth. The Abbott’s and others learn the hard way that silence is the way to survive, and we’re off to the races as the film quickly moves ahead to just after PART I wraps up. In the present time, the family has discovered a way to fight off the creatures, and thanks to the forward thinking of Regan, may have a way to extend the fight for all of what’s left of humanity. 

 

The plot is simple; find help and a way to spread the word of the new fighting method. Hope is the key term and that’s what the characters grapple with in PART II. Eventually the Abbott’s stumble upon an old family friend (Cillian Murphy), who has lost his family and any sort of hope. Finding a way to bring him out of the darkness is the moral center of the film and it works well. 

 

Tension-building with tremendous payoffs was part of the reason PART I worked so well, and this time around Krasinski outdoes himself. Characters having to keep quiet while running and hiding provides some excellent edge-of-your-seat moments, and the creatures are more frightening than before. The highlight of the film comes when the characters split up into three groups, and all three groups find themselves stalked by the creatures…which turns into three different nail-biters going on at the same time in a masterclass of editing. And speaking of editing, the manipulation of sound is tremendous; this is a film that demands to be seen on the big screen. 

 

Acting is excellent. Emily Blunt has the burden of being the only adult in the room and she carries it in her usual solid talent. She feels a little sidelined this time around, as the film does shift its attention more towards the children…but she still gets her moments. The film is stolen by young actress Millicent Simmonds. 

 

After a thriller of a finale, PART II avoids any old sci-fi cliché of wiping out the creatures and mankind rising out of the ashes, and instead stays true to its central theme of hope; and ends with just that for mankind. The film’s shift from the adults to the children is noticeable, but logical, as any hope mankind has always rests with its children. That makes A QUIET PLACE PART II not just a shit-your-pants thriller, but one that means a little something more. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it