A Quiet Place Part II (2021)

★★★
A Quiet Place Part II picks up right where the previous film left off, carries over the strengths of that movie, and expands its world to include other survivors. It opens with a fantastic sequence that reveals the origin of the aliens and establishes how they quickly took over the planet. It leaves a few breadcrumbs behind for a potential sequel, which will hopefully delve more deeply into how the aliens got here. There are still questions that I had when it was over, but I’m confident Part III will tackle these and more when it comes around. This movie is better than the first one and shows that writer/director John Krasinski has a good idea of where to take this story.

Asteroids pummel the planet and introduce an alien species that hunts by sound. The Abbott family is spending the afternoon at a Little League game, on a perfectly normal day in Smalltown, U.S.A. From the sky comes a blazing fire, about to unleash a horrible scenario involving ravenous aliens with lots of sharp teeth. They attack the town and presumably everywhere else too. When it’s all over, we arrive at the beginning of the first movie, where we were introduced to the Abbotts. At the start of this sequel, Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and her children Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and a newborn baby leave their home. They eventually arrive at an old factory and meet Emmett (Cillian Murphy), a friend from before the aliens’ arrival who agrees to take them in for the night before sending them on their way. He’s experienced his own loss—his wife and children—and doesn’t want the responsibility of caring for others, lest he suffer another heartbreak.

Evelyn made a weapon out of an amplifier and Regan’s hearing aid, which emits a high frequency sound that can stun the aliens, making their armored skulls vulnerable to attack. While in Emmett’s hideout, Regan and Marcus discover a radio station playing the song “Beyond the Sea” on a loop. She deduces that it’s a clue to find additional survivors. The next day she ventures out on her own. Everett, initially perturbed at having guests, agrees to find her and return with her. He tracks her down and, with Regan’s convincing, decides to help track down the source of the signal.

The open world allows for more opportunities to tell this story. I appreciated the claustrophobic feel of the original and its reliance on limited resources. My only problem with that movie were some of Krasinski’s creative decisions, like a nail that materialized on the basement stairs out of nowhere. When Evelyn temporarily leaves the factory and returns to the house for unfinished business, we see the nail again, which looks like it was hammered into the step from below rather than coming loose from wear and tear. That was an annoying development from a mostly disciplined movie.

The movie proceeds with two storylines. First, there’s Emmett and Regan and their mission to find additional survivors by hiking to the docks to find a boat and sail to an island “beyond the sea.” Secondly, there’s Evelyn and Marcus, contending with an alien who lurks nearby and is close to finding their location. Krasinski intercuts between these parallel plot threads effectively, sometimes having their actions match up. This technique is especially good during the climax, when Regan implements a lifesaving solution that could assist Evelyn miles away.

A Quiet Place Part II is superior to its predecessor but still has a few head-scratching moments. I noticed a few times when survivors walk around outside, they take less care to keep silent, yet they don’t attract any unwanted attention. Krasinski plays a little fast and loose with his own rules, especially during a chase in the factory when the humans evade harm with an alien right behind them. The good parts are good enough, however, to elevate this effort above the first movie, and for that I’m grateful.

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