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Movie Review: A Quiet Place Part II

Mike Tyrkus

A Quiet Place Part II, director John Krasinski’s follow-up to his 2018 hit film, follows the Abbott family as they continue their silent fight for survival in an unforgiving and desolate world where the creatures that are hunting them via sound are only one of the threats they must overcome.

This chapter begins with a brief flashback recounting the initial moments of the invasion whose aftermath was dramatized in the first film. After which the Abbotts set out in search of the other survivors that have continued to light the beacons that Lee (Krasinski) had diligently kept lit throughout the first chapter of this saga. Once they have ventured beyond the confines of their established “sand” path, Evelyn (Emily Blunt), Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and Marcus (Noah Jupe) must find a way to stay one step ahead of the creatures hunting them while attempting to locate more survivors such as themselves.

As he did with the first film, Krasinski relies heavily on the performances of his lead actors to shoulder the heavy lifting of the film. It is a task that they are all easily up to. In particular, Simmonds stands out as carrying a good deal of the plot in an effective and effortless way, making her the de facto star of the film. Blunt and Jupe both show remarkable growth in their characters that make this far more of a compelling tale of one family’s survival than it perhaps would be if left in the hands of other actors. Joining the contingent of apocalypse survivors is Emmett (Cillian Murphy) as one of the beacon keepers from the first film. What is particularly rewarding here is that this may be the first role wherein Murphy is allowed to play against type and is a likable hero from beginning to end, instead of the powder-keg wildcard waiting for just the right moment to explode.

Emily Blunt, Noah Jupe, and Millicent Simmonds in “A Quiet Place Part II.”

The cinematography by Polly Morgan captures the bleakness of the production design provided by Jess Gonchor to portray a wasteland that is, at the same time, both vibrantly alive and completely devoid of organic life, making the film almost as harrowing an experience to watch as it is to be one of the characters within the story itself. The music provided by Marco Beltrami also contrasts the sparseness of this world with an understated score that hints at the horrors throughout but never thrusts the action down a specific path, instead allowing the drama to unfold organically.

In short, A Quiet Place Part II is one of those rare sequels that proves to be every bit as good as its predecessor, if not infinitely better, as it takes the story further and actually improves upon it rather than simply rehashing it.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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