‘A Quiet Place Part II’ Review: Envelops You in Tension

It was early March of 2020 when the critics screening of A Quiet Place Part II was the first to be cancelled due to the pandemic; its release date at the time being pushed back to TBA. Nearly 15 months later and it’s fitting that A Quiet Place Part II is the blockbuster film that is welcoming audiences back to theaters. And with fantastic sound design that envelops you in tension and draws you into this world without sound, A Quiet Place Part II is well worth seeing on the big screen. It feels good to be back.

Following Regan’s (Millicent Simmonds) discovery that the creatures are vulnerable to high-frequency audio waves at the end of the first film, Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and her family, including their newborn baby, set out to explore beyond their now burned down farm in search of any other survivors. It’s not long before they get caught in a trap that has been setup by Emmett (Cillian Murphy), an old family friend from before society fell. So much has changed since then, and Emmett is far more reluctant to help Evelyn and her family. But they’re going to have to work together if they’re going to continue to survive and possibly fight back in this harsh world.

A Quiet Place Part II actually opens with Day 1 of the monster attack which provides some exposition and gives John Krasinski one last time to shine as Lee before returning to the present timeline. It’s a great sequence of events because not only does it provide a little more detail to the alien monsters but we get to see the complete fall of the small town the Abbott’s live in. It’s even more intense since we already know that the monsters are attracted to sound, making you want to yell at the screen and tell the characters to be quiet. We already know the Abbott’s make it out of the initial attack alive, but that doesn’t make the scene any less terrifying.

Compare that with the present timeline that is over a year later and the Abbotts are a completely different family, even when compared to the first film. They still know all the ins and out to living as quietly as possible, made especially more difficult with a newborn baby. But they make it work and they clearly rely on each other to survive. Things drastically change when Emmett is introduced to the film, however.

A Quiet Place was all about Lee doing everything he could to save his family, ultimately sacrificing his own life to save his two kids. A Quiet Place Part II passes the torch and now puts the focus on them, Regan and Marcus (Noah Jupe), as they’re now following in their father’s footsteps. Millicent Simmonds does a fantastic job essentially taking over as the lead of the film. She’s smart, resourceful, and driven. It’s her who figures out a potential way of fighting back against the monsters and who ventures out into the danger. Emily Blunt is great in the film, but she’s mostly taking a backseat role. Cillian Murphy is an excellent new addition to the film and excels in every scene he’s in. He goes along with Regan on her mission, but it’s still her who is mostly taking the lead.

Once again, it’s the sound design that is also the big star of the film. The rules feel a bit more relaxed this time around as there is much more dialogue and moments where I felt like had that happened in the first film they would have been instantly killed, but the tension is still always present as you feel like one misstep will have the monsters instantly spring out from the shadows. It’s often so quiet you can hear your own heartbeat as it pumps increasingly faster like it wants to jump out of your chest. The tension never lets up for its 97 minute runtime so strap yourself in.

It’s rare for a sequel to be on the same level as the original, and even rarer for horror sequels, but A Quiet Place Part II delivers on all fronts. It expands its story and its world while maintaining its intense and terrifying atmosphere. It’s difficult to match the same feeling of watching the first film for the first time, but A Quiet Place Part II comes awfully close.