As the second installment in the Quiet Place franchise, this movie surpassed the high expectations heaped on it. From the directing, to the acting, to the sound design, each film element gave the movie theatre viewing experience a stellar comeback. The tension is palpable, and the extra helping of action in this one is a satisfying addition to make this film unique.
Right off the bat, the movie begins on day one of the creatures’ emergence as they quickly wipe out a huge majority of the human population. Every sound effect pierces your soul (especially if you watch in a theatre), which sets the precedence for strong, thoughtful sound design for the rest of a movie; it’s very fitting considering the premise.
The plot then skips a year to the immediate after effects of the last film. In desperate need, the Abbott family try to survive a dangerous world away from their home, but Regan (Millicent Simmonds)–recognizing her newfound usefulness–yearns to accomplish more by exposing the invaders’ weakness to save the human race.
The introduction of Cillian Murphy as Emmett was a crucial piece to the story and tension. There’s a lot of mystery and ambiguity to the character that keeps you guessing throughout, and I’m glad he was as involved as he was in the main action and to the character growth of the original cast. Emily Blunt was still a boss mom-of-the-year, but she was more in the shadows this time around but as an intentional choice for the sake of the point of this film.
John Krasinski had no intention of continuing this story since it was a perfectly constructed stand alone film about parents wondering how to balance protecting and preparing their children for the big, scary world they live in. However, we are better off for this sequel because Krasinski was able to expand on those family-centered themes.
The kids were especially strong components in this aspect since most of the story follows Regan, the deaf oldest child, and her younger brother, Marcus (Noah Jupe). If the first movie was about parenting, this sequel is all about the children becoming autonomous. There is some criticism for how the story jumps between the two fully formed stories, but I think this only strengthens the theme. These jumps transitioned very smoothly and were obviously well thought out during pre-production to make it a seamlessly single storyline about a bigger idea of children in general growing up.
I loved the parallels of Regan and Marcus’s journeys in comparing them to each other and to the plot points their parents faced in the previous movie. The comparison was more blatantly said and shown during the intense climax, but they began from the very first scenes. Each scene gave me more depth to the idea of the kids taking over which primed me to really appreciate the kids coming into their full power.
It did end somewhat abruptly, but that just makes me more excited to see what Part III brings!
Parent’s Guide: This movie may not be for younger kids due to the moments of violence where the monsters attack people, digging into them and throwing them around. Most of the violence that befalls people happens off-screen with little to no blood shown. We see more gore with the monsters’ heads shot. There is a scene of a child’s leg getting suddenly caught in a bear trap. It isn’t gruesomely bloody, but the damage is shown and his pain is very apparent. There is some language, but nothing overly vulgar. The overall tone is dark and tense which would be too much for young viewers.