A Quiet Place Part II

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Radio South West Victoria and Ballarat on June 11, 2021.

(M) ★★★★

Director: John Krasinski.

Cast: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski.

Typical American party: BYO gun and baby.

As mentioned many times before, great horror and sci-fi films often reflect the great fears of their times. When I reviewed A Quiet Place three years ago, I didn't think too much about how it reflected our own great fears. Somewhat dismissively I noted that it lacked "the thematic depth of Get Out".

But I was wrong. It suddenly occurred to me while watching this finely made sequel that A Quiet Place does have something to say about the time we live in. In two or three decades time, we will look back on this and see beyond the "high concept... delivered with minimal fuss and maximum impact" and find there was indeed a thematic depth tucked beneath the surface.

A Quiet Place and this excellent follow-up tap into a genius and genuine fear - that we fear to live in silence. In a world of social media, inane chatter, the endless news cycle, and everything all of the time, there are no doubt innumerable people who live in fear of the silent world A Quiet Place portrays. No talking, no phones, no music, no inane Tik Tok/Insta/Facebook/etc videos - for many, this is indeed a nightmarish existence. You could also argue that there's a psychological bent to this; ie. that "living in silence", unable to speak out lest you get destroyed by evil creatures, is no way to live.

Picking up where its predecessor left off (after a brief flashback to "day one" of the alien invasion), Part II finds the Abbott family searching for a new home, which leads to a dangerous cross-country trek where any sound they make could get them killed. And they're trying to do this with a baby.

The central conceit of aliens that hunt via sound is still scary as hell, so even when A Quiet Place Part II feels like a re-tread of its predecessor, you're still on the edge of your seat. There's an inevitable sequel looming here too, so the sense of completeness of the first film is missing too, but these are minor quibbles.

What worked in the first film works here. The tension wrought by the silence is immense, the sound design is beautifully dramatic, returning composer Marco Beltrami's discordant score is perfect, Krasinki's direction is confident, and the story finds ingenious ways to make the "silence vs noise" thing fresh.

The cast is also, once again, excellent. Blunt spends much of the film torn between fear and desperation (her husband Krasinski really puts her through the wringer) but what really shines through is she is a mother almost destroyed by grief but desperately holding it all together for the sake of her kids. She is Most Mothers, turned up to 11. She's the urban legend mum who gains superhuman strength in the heat of the moment to lift a car off her kid. Blunt makes all this believable. 

The real star is Simmonds, who shone in the first film, but truly blossoms here. Seeing a deaf heroine is a beautiful and powerful thing, but this is no token, hollow gesture. Regan is a great character who sees a hole in the family and an opportunity to be a leader and a saviour. It's a wonderful performance to go with such a nicely written role. 

This sequel can never feel as fresh or as groundbreaking as the original, but it lives up to the high bar set by its predecessor. A Quiet Place Part II mines the same territory, but still finds gold.