A Quiet Place Part II is the sequel to the successful A Quiet Place. The 2021 production by Platinum Dunes and Sunday Night Productions is written and directed by John Krasinski, who also plays a small role in this film after playing one of the main characters last time. Besides John, the movie features actors such as Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou. The movie received a 7.6/10 on IMDb and 71 Metascore at the time of writing.
The Story
As this the sequel, the viewer is familiar with the world we’re in. Everybody has to be quiet as to not attract monsters. However, this story starts with a car driving down the road, instantly creating questions in my mind. But of course, we’re back in time and this is before the monsters attacked. This flashback gives us some more background on the events before the first movie, which is nice to have as I felt that lacked during the first part.
One of the important revelations during the first film is the fact that the monster can be killed by playing a high-frequency sound and then shooting them in the head. This could pave the way for an action-packed film where our main cast is just hunting monsters, but to my liking, John decided not to go this route and keep it close to the original. The quiet, something can every moment, vibe stills hang around this whole movie.
The main quest of the story becomes the attempt to help everyone with a radio hear the high-frequency sound so they can counter-attack the monsters. With the help of one of their old friends, Emmet, Regan goes on her way. On the road they come across some bad people, just liked Emmet warned them about. It’s a cool addition to the story, especially because they get what they deserve in the end.
We also get to see people living in peace, without monsters. The islanders are safe because the monsters can’t swim, something the government found out on day 1. They prepared ships but only 2 out of the 12 left after people started to scream to get on one. While this is only told through conversation, you can just imagine the horrible scenes. And, of course, these people couldn’t keep living in peace after Emmet and Regan arrived.
The Characters
While the bigger part of the cast stays the same from the first movie, we get one major addition with Emmet. He is a complex character, still grieving over the loss of his family. For that reason, he is unwilling to help the Abbott’s as he thinks he we’ll fail them too. He is a great addition to the story and a truly wonderful performance from Murphy. It was also nice to see a little of Lee in this movie as I didn’t expect that.
The Production
I think John Krasinski and his crew created something special with these movies. The quiet experience is soo different from what we’re used to nowadays and its execution is flawless. This rather quiet experience amplifies the monsters and their amazing sound design. I also thought that the choice to make some scenes soundless as if we’re in Regan’s shoes was astounding.