Marking the unofficial start of the 2021 summer movie season after the pandemic is A Quiet Place Part 2, the sequel to John Krasinski’s mostly silent 2018 horror film. After a year long COVID delay and lots of expectations not just as a film, but for the industry in general, it’s incredibly satisfying to say that this is a rare sequel that lives up to its predecessor and exactly what film fans need to get motivated to go back to the movies.
Picking up almost immediately after the first film’s ending, in which Krasinski’s Lee Abbott was killed by noise seeking monsters- Spoilers, but come on, the movie’s been out for four years- the remaining Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds) venture out from their ruined home to find survivors and potentially use the monsters’ weakness against them and drive them off. What the family will go through will be much more dangerous and nerve shredding then before, which is really saying something.
Let’s get the big thing out of the way: There’s much more dialogue in this film than the first one. Whereas the original film only had two scenes of full dialogue, this sequel turns that up to the point that it feels like too much for a world where no one can make a sound. You’d think that would be a detractor for the film, but somehow, Krasinski, who returns to direct this film, wisely spaces out the talking with stretches of silence. It’s never overwhelming or distracting and once again, subtitled American Sign Language is used to great effect here.
Another welcome change that elevates this film is a larger cast. Enter Cillian Murphy, who’s always a great choice for a film, playing Emmett, an old friend of the Abbotts from before the creatures decimated all life. Murphy gives yet another great performance here, racking up his count of great movies, and his character’s tragic past and unlikely alliance with a certain character gives this film a new layer that leads to a few unexpected moments.
And yes, this film is much more intense and scary than the first, to the point that many viewers in my screening were leaping out of their seats in terror. This is mostly due to the fact that now we care for the characters more as opposed to introducing them in an intense climate. Early on, a character we care about gets brutally injured and the reaction from not just the audience, but the characters in the film is devastating to listen to, much like when Emily Blunt had to give birth in a bathtub in the first film. Also, composer Marco Beltrami’s score is once again pitch perfect, evoking dread and terror one moment and tragedy and melancholy the next.
A Quiet Place Part 2 delivers the scares and heart rate increasing moments that horror fans will love as well as being a great sequel and great film in general. If you’ve been waiting for a great film to go back to the theater for, this is the one- just make sure everyone in the the audience knows when to shut up.
A Quiet Place Part 2 is now playing in theaters.