A QUIET PLACE PART II (2021)

Critic No.237

Director: John Krasinski

Written by: John Krasinski

Produced by: Platinum Dunes, Sunday Night Productions

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

Language: English

Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi

SYNOPSIS: 

Following the events at home, the Abbott family now faces the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lurking beyond the sand path.

REVIEW:

Written and directed by John Krasinski, who appears again on-screen in an extended flashback sequence at the beginning of the film, A Quiet Place Part II picks up from where it left off with Evelyn (Emily Blunt), Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe), and the newborn baby abandoning their destroyed home. They set out to find other surviving humans, armed with the knowledge that Regan’s cochlear implant makes the monsters vulnerable enough to get a shot. They also come across Emmett (Cillian Murphy), a family friend who is carrying a lot of grief and guilt after losing his whole family and therefore is opposed to helping the Abbotts, fearing that he may fail again.

The premise has more scope to play with newfound family dynamics and the film travels slowly but steadily to develop the arc. Krasinski continues his masterful skill of winding up the tension and not rushing through the moment by holding on to shots long and then quickly switching to a high-octane action set-up. Regan’s determination of not giving up even if the world is ruined to dust can be parallelly compared to our current situation of how the yonder generations are rallying against health and other social causes, constantly hoping for a better future. 

Yes, the film banks heavily on the feeling of hope and engineers its story to effectively stamp it across. The actors are great as usual and Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy are terrific in their physically demanding roles. Then sound design and score marry effectively to keep our hearts racing. 

Of course, with the reveal of the monsters in part 1, the tension is not as tight as the predecessor and the feeling of ‘unknown’ is absent. Similar to the recent release, ‘Don’t Breathe 2’, the scares, even though still manage to raise our hair, feel less organic and surprising. The aliens in the film also become a little muddled at times as we wonder what keeps them alive and by this time, I really wanted to know more about the back story of this whole phenomenon, or at least a peek. If they expand the film to a third series, I hope they manage to go bigger with the ideas to at least give us some reasoning which I feel will give a whole new colour to this series. 

That said, ‘A Quiet Place Part II’ is still a neat horror that is technically sleek and emotionally rich, reemphasizing that John Krasinski is here to give us more original horror flicks. 

VERDICT:

‘A Quiet Place Part II’ is an expansion of its core concept that goes wider on the drama aspect this time, giving this claustrophobic, slow-burn horror series a more balanced outlook.

CELLULOID METER- 3.5/5: