A Quiet Place Part II
Written & Directed by John Krasinski

Oh, you can’t escape from me that easily, A Quiet Place Part II. I had tickets lined up to see you last year in a double feature IMAX screening with the first film, which I’m still pissed didn’t end up happening by the way, and I’ve been waiting with bated breath ever since I knew theatres would soon be reopening. I’ll be upfront and say I’m a fan of the original movie, which isn’t really a shocker because most people like it I think, even if it was a little uneven sometimes in the plot department. If A Quiet Place Part II managed to be even half as good as the first one, it’d still probably be worth watching, but I was hoping it would live up to or even exceed its predecessor, and I’m thrilled that I was right. A Quiet Place Part II is exactly what a sequel should be.

So What’s Going On After The Destruction Of Everything You Knew And Loved, Guys?

Picking up almost exactly where the first left off, we follow the Abbott family as they venture away from their once safe home and head out to look for survivors who may be able to help them. Armed with a method of fighting the alien monsters that continue to plague the Earth, our heroes aren’t quite as vulnerable as they were before, but with a newborn baby in tow, they still need to be extremely cautious. After running into someone from their past, played perfectly by Cillian Murphy, they embark on a journey to find out who, if anyone, has survived, and if the people they find are as stable as our family remains more than a year into this hellish scenario.

Similar Enough To Follow, Different Enough Feel Distinct.

Like a lot of sequels, A Quiet Place Part II is similar to the original in a lot of ways. The main threat is still those blind alien monsters that kill anything that makes a sound, there’s still little spoken dialogue, although there may be more in this movie than the previous one, and this is still a largely character and set-piece-driven story rather than a plot-driven story. But those things all worked for me in A Quiet Place, and I don’t really have a problem with them not having been changed that much. In fact, I’m quite happy to see that the alien monsters are still being treated as a serious threat considering that at the end of the first movie (spoilers) they all figured out a way to make these monsters vulnerable to bullets. They’re no longer a cataclysmic threat whenever they show up, but it still makes for tense moments and I like the acknowledgment that figuring out one way to fight them doesn’t render them beaten or diminish their strength. Kind of like how in Aliens the space marines have the means to kill the Xenomorphs but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still a threat.

Balls To The Wall Action! Which Is Done Surprisingly Well.

Speaking of Aliens, A Quiet Place Part II also puts a bit more emphasis on action and action set pieces. There’s a lot more gun use, a lot more on-screen violence, and even some explosions! None of that is a bad thing. This kind of works with the changing plot structure, how the goal has changed from going unnoticed and hiding from the monsters to taking the fight to them. Or maybe it’s just because the budget for this one is a lot bigger. That certainly helped the scope of what’s going on, especially in the absolutely awesome ‘Day 1’ scene that shows us what happened the day when these monsters arrived. It isn’t totally necessary, we basically know what happened from exposition from the first film and can put together the essential bits. But seeing John Krasinski back was fun and the explanation we get shown is as good as it was ever going to be. Also, this was all in the trailer so I feel it isn’t spoilers to bring it up.

Maybe Rewatch The First One Though.

This scene will be absolutely essential for one type of viewer, which is people who have not seen the first movie. There is no recap, no exposition, no replaying of sequences from the first film at all. I can respect that. It certainly would be good for people who haven’t seen the original film since it first came out to watch it again just to refresh themselves, but so long as you remember the major plot points you shouldn’t have any problem following the story. I really am happy that there isn’t a lengthy recap or expository scene, because they might mess up the incredible pacing that A Quiet Place Part II manages to maintain. What’s so interesting about that to me is that the story is still quite focused and small-scale, so there isn’t a ton of narrative progression, but it never feels like nothing is happening. Part of that is probably because there is that same great sense of visual storytelling that the original manages.

A Masterclass In Showing – Not Telling.

Seeing a movie that is confident enough in the audience that it doesn’t need to verbally say everything it means is always a good thing. Sure, zooming in on a thing that will be important later is just as foreshadowy as having someone announce it, but it’s that one extra step of having me as an audience member realize what’s happening myself rather than spoon-feeding it to me that makes such a difference. Once you establish the rules about noises being dangerous, just having a character flinch when they make noise gets me into that headspace with them that creates the empathy you need to emotionally connect with these characters. And everyone who wants to do jumpscares needs to watch this movie to see how it is really done. No cats being thrown when someone opens a door, no cheesy misdirections, just visually interesting sequences that startle you. Not a lot of A Quiet Place Part II is “scary”, but it’s thrilling and exciting and gets your adrenaline pumping in exactly the way you’d hope for.

You Can Probably Tell Whether Or Not I Recommend This Movie By Now.

It’s a huge cliche for a review of a movie that is a sequel to end with, if you liked the first one, you’ll like this one, so I’m gonna go a step further than that and say that this is a movie that just about anyone who likes horror, or even just tense action, could enjoy. There’s enough brought over from the first film that worked to keep that core strong and enough new material to make things feel unique and expand on the world, there’s one scene that jumps out as being my favorite but I can’t talk about it because spoilers gaaaaaaaah. Is this going to blow people’s minds as an intellectual deep dive into conceptual horror? Absolutely not. Is this a fun thrill-ride that you should watch in a movie theater for the sound quality alone? Yes. Did I appreciate that it began with John Krasinski thanking me for seeing this movie in a theater? Also yes. And I hope every movie takes that cue and plays a clip of John Krasinski thanking me for seeing their movie – whether or not he was involved with the production at all. Go see A Quiet Place Part II, I think you’ll enjoy it.