To say 2018’s A Quiet Place was a surprise hit is an understatement. The premise was thin. Jim from The Office, with all of his zero years of experience in the horror genre, directed and co-wrote it. Throw in the well-below Hollywood average $17 million budget, and you have the makings of something scary in the wrong way. No reason to believe anything good would come of it.
Fast forward three years and $340 million in box office receipts later, with tons of critics and audiences considering it a classic, the sequel to John Krasinski's masterpiece is upon us. A Quiet Place II picks up where the original film left off with the remaining members of the Abbott family living through an invasion by visually impaired extra-terrestrial creatures who hunt based on sound. However, they now must combat additional threats and decide if staying put or moving forward is their best chance of surviving.
Krasinski faces a conflict similar to his protagonists in making a sequel to a film as successful as the first Quiet Place - sticking with what worked or stepping out and going bold?
Thankfully, A Quiet Place II leans towards the former and does so with spectacular results. Forgoing the temptation to put his almost quadrupled budget toward forcing gratuitous special effects and CGI on us, Krasinski uses the same formula of perfect sound editing and good writing that made the first movie so special.
In the sound department, Krasinski reunites with Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn, the duo who received an Oscar nomination for their sound editing on the first film. The sound editing is better this time around as the deftness of transitions between complete silence and the sound that potentially triggers an attack hit harder and keep your nerves in shambles. It’s jarring when the stillness collapses and a creature attacks, and you’re looking over the characters’ shoulders when an attack doesn’t happen.
The writing makes its mark by utilizing the same premise and human-centered themes as the first film but with some minor tweaks that pay off big as the film progresses. In addition to the fight to survive the invasion mentioned above, A Quiet Place II incorporates themes such as family and community to give it heart. Those themes are at their most potent in the opening sequence that gives a little background on pre-invasion life for the Abbotts and other points in the film that serves as a reminder of better days.
The tweaks aren’t anything drastic, but they are enough to heighten the degree of difficulty in its characters’ survival and allow the story to grow beyond its previous iteration. The monsters aren’t enhanced, nor are there any upgrades for the Abbotts. However, the natural changes in 1) the roles of the older Abbott children and 2) the family’s environment as they move to a more open world beyond their home create elements that keep the story moving and fresh. Think changing the difficulty setting on Madden from “All-Pro” to “All-Madden.”
On the acting side, Millicent Simmonds comes of age before your eyes as one of the older Abbott children. In the previous film, she took a back seat to Krasinski and Emily Blunt. In A Quiet Place II, that’s no longer the case due to Krasinski’s limited screen time and the dynamic of the Abbotts changing.
Simmonds’s character has matured to the point where she’s more confident and assertive, and she handles it like a seasoned veteran. In the process, she kills two Hollywood stereotypes with one stone – women and persons with disabilities being helpless (Simmonds is deaf in real life). Seeing her be aggressive onscreen is a treat in itself, but seeing her do it well is even more rewarding. Blunt, Noah Jupe, and Cillian Murphy aren’t featured as much but still deliver excellent performances in limited screen time.
A Quiet Place II is one of those rare instances in which a film can do no wrong. Krasinski has another good one on his filmography by staying with what worked the first time with only minor tweaks. Simmonds and the rest of the cast are excellent, but it’s the silence and sound that ultimately make the movie work again.
Without question, A Quiet Place II is as good as it gets for a sequel. To get the full effect of the sound manipulation, I recommend watching it in a premium format if you go to a theater or using a soundbar system with a subwoofer if you’re viewing at home when it hits HBO Max next month.
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