‘A QUIET PLACE’ was a big hit when shown in 2018 so a sequel was quickly concocted in 2019 but due to the pandemic, its release was postponed and only got shown this year as the first big movie shown in actual theatersin the U.S.
Part II is now also a worldwide hit so we’re not surprised if the franchise is extended and they’d come up with Part III later, with the kids now older and bigger.
In Part I, we met the members of the Abbott family: Dad Lee (John Krasinki, who also directs both films), Mom Evelyn (Emily Blunt, Mrs. Krasinski in real life) and kids Regan (Millicent Simmonds), who is hearing impaired, and Marcus (Noah Jupe.)
The world has been invaded by ugly aliens who are blind but has a hypersensitive sense of hearing. To survive, humans should stay very quiet so the aliens won’t detect their presence.
In Part 1, the father has sacrificed his own life, but the sequel starts with him in a flashback opening sequence that shows the very first day that the aliens attacked their town while the family is watching Marcus’ participation in a baseball game.
The credits are shown and Part II then reverts to where the first film ended. The surviving members of the family now include the baby who was shown being born in the first movie.
Their farmhouse has been destroyed and they’re now shown walking in search of a new place. Marcus’ foot gets caught in a trap for animals and he starts screaming in pain, attracting an alien.
Regan has earlier found out that her hearing aid’s high frequency audio feedback repels the creatures, so she uses it again and her mom is able to shoot the alien to death.
But another alien appears so they scamper off to an abandoned factory where a survivalist helps them hide in his underground bunker.
This is Emmett (Cillian Murphy), a former friend of Dad Lee who has now become a total recluse after the aliens killed all his family. His situation is a counterpoint to that of the Abbots who lost their dad. In his case, he lost his wife and kids.
He then allows Evelyn and her three kids to stay with him in his hiding place. At night, they hear a radio station that plays the song “Beyond the Sea” nonstop and Regan concludes it’s a hint that there are other survivors who are staying in an island.
She feels that if she could get to that island and use their radio tower there, her hearing aid’s high frequency emission can be used by other survivors elsewhere as a weapon to help ward off the creatures.
She tells Marcus that she would go and try to find the island by herself but her brother says their mom won’t allow her to leave. She still goes in secret.
When Evelyn finds out, she implores Emmett to follow her and bring her home. Together, Regan and Emmett are off to face new adventures.
We watched the sequel with the feeling that we’ll just be watching more of the same. Yes, we get that, and more.
Of course, as a genre film, the premise is no longer as fresh as the original. But in all fairness to the sequel, it offers more involving family drama.
The pulse-pounding ending, where the two kids are shown in separate edge-of-your-seat climactic sequences that are happening simultaneously, offers a big emotional impact as this becomes a coming of age film for them.
They are shown growing up in a hurry as they face a crucial moment of life and death.
Millicent Simmonds, who’s really deaf in real life, and Noah Jupe (who we last saw in “The Undoing”as Nicole Kidman’s son) are the real stars here. Part II succeeds in expanding the boundaries of the action, what with the addition of new characters and a new setting.
This is one film where sound is very important as there are many so silent sequences and you can really marvel at the fantastic sound design that works so well and heightens the suspense with the help of the stunning camera work and the magnificent musical score.
They all contribute to make the tension very palpable to make this an effective sequel.
The film is only one hour and half and fastly paced so there’s really no time to get bored, punctuated by the well executed jump scares that are bound to give you a jolt.
The creatures are given more exposure and whoever designed them deserves praise as they really look hideous and frightening in closeups.
