quiet place 2 christian movie review

A Quiet Place Part II

Reviewed by: Alexander Malsan CONTRIBUTOR

Check back later for review coming from contributor Alexander Malsan

A brave cohesive family fighting vicious alien monsters

What does the Bible say about intelligent life on other planets? Answer

Are we alone in the universe? Answer

Does Scripture refer to life in space? Answer

What does it take to survive in a very dangerous world situation?

Keeping one’s children safe

Self-sacrifice

Strong, unwavering family LOVE / What is true Christian love? Answer

FEAR, Anxiety and Worry —What does the Bible say? Answer

About despair and hope

“Silence is not enough”

Prequel: “ A Quiet Place ” (2018)

WARNING! If you haven’t seen the first Quiet Place film, there are spoilers ahead.

S hortly after the events of “A Quiet Place,” the Abbott family (Emily, Marcus and Regan) are left with very few choices as to what to do with their lives after the death of Emily’s beloved husband, Lee. With very few resources remaining and with the knowledge of how to defend themselves and defeat the alien creatures, the Abbott family leaves their homestead on a quest for the other survivors. After all, as Emily ( Emily Blunt ) states, “There are people still worth saving.”

Along the route, the Abbott family runs into Emily’s brother-in-law Emmett ( Cillian Murphy ). While seeking refuge with Emmet, he informs his family that much of the world they know is gone and that those who are left are not the type of people you want to save (in other words, they’ve become very hostile towards the world and strangers). Emily takes this advice into consideration, as her first priority is her family, and the creatures they encounter are getting smarter every day, so venturing out isn’t the easiest option. As for Marcus and Regan however…

Marcus agrees with his Uncle Emmett. Regan, however, knows EXACTLY how to defeat these creatures, by increasing the frequency of her cochlear implant, amplifying it and aiming the sound at the creatures. Of course, her mother would never let her venture out on her own, and Marcus says he won’t support her sister on this, so Regan decides to sneak out and find someone who will help her defeat these creatures, once and for all.

In a recent interview with review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes, Director John Krasinki revealed (and I’m paraphrasing)…

“[After] the first movie I truly never thought there would be a sequel. I don’t think anybody thought there would be a sequel, I don’t think the studio thought there was going to be a sequel. I didn’t want to do a second one because of the success of the first one. As corny as it sounds, I only wanted to do a second one if I could pull off the level of trust and respect the audience gave me. If I can find a way to return that level of respect and trust, I’ll do it…”

I respect his candor and appreciation for the cinematic arts and what makes for good filmmaking. Krasinski may still be new in Hollywood, but it feels like he takes time to know his audience BEFORE creating his product, and it shows.

While “A Quiet Place” emphasized the dread of silence and the type of fear that can instill, Part II’s primary focus is on what happens when the blindfold is off and you have to face a fearful foe. There’s plenty of intense moments of genuine uncertainty and anxiety, as the fear of the unknown still lurks around the corner in this film. Viewers may still feel like hiding with every step the Abbot family takes on the sanded path, whispering to themselves, “Please don’t step on a loud branch.” One never knows what element in an everyday scene is going to be the one that sends the aliens racing over in a matter of seconds. The tension is a testament to both the actors and Krasinki.

While in the first film the focus was on Emily and Lee, this time it is more of Regan’s story. Millicent Simmonds (who plays Regan) is a commanding young actress who shines in every scene she’s in. She drives the narrative, but not in the way some may expect. Her struggles don’t define her, they encourage her to press forward and she uses that to her advantage on screen. Even Cillian Murphy, who later joins her journey, is just along for the ride.

Last, but certainly not least, the film’s soundtrack is one of its defining features. The music is a prominent player in a good way. It flows evenly with the rhythm of the story.

What could be improved in this sequel? I think the overall pacing of the film. The first movie had a much more even pacing where, even when it was quiet, the action was a little more evenly placed. Also, I would have liked to see a little more character development in Part II, particularly with regards to the brother-sister relationship between Marcus and Regan; that relationship could prove valuable in Part III (who knows?).

Objectionable Material

Violence: The violence in Part II is much heavier, most of it in the form of the alien creatures attacking humans. People are dragged off screaming or tossed around by these creatures or killed (usually brief moments though). One person is stabbed on a pole by one of the creatures. The creatures are seen attacking cars as well. One particularly disturbing scene (I really wasn’t a fan of) is when a young character gets their foot caught in a bear trap. We can hear the child screaming and his foot bloodied. We also hear the child scream when antiseptic is poured onto the wound. Creatures are seen lit on fire and shot by shotguns and other weapons which result in seeing their insides and pools of blood. A man is seen struggling underwater with a noose around his neck. A character is pierced in the leg. We also witness some dead creatures and human corpses (some decomposed). A metal rod is driven into an alien’s head.

When Regan is asked why she is going to risk her own life to get help to fight the creatures, knowing full well that it’s extremely dangerous, she says, “Because it’s what Dad would do.”

For a follower of Christ, what is LOVE —a feeling, an emotion, or an action? Answer

How far would we go to protect the ones we love? I would hope to the ends of the Earth. Our Lord and Savior , Jesus Christ , sure did. He risked his own life, was spit on, mocked, tortured and crucified on a cross for us sinners, even for those who did not know Him. That’s love. That’s unconditional true love .

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” -Mark 10:45

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life . For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” —John 3:16-17

“But he was wounded for our transgressions ; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” —Isaiah 53:5

“By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” —Colossians 2:14

And, on this Memorial Day, when we thank and honor those who have served and continue to serve and protect and lay down their lives for us, remember this…

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” —John 15:13-17

Final Thoughts

“A Quiet Place Part II” is a film that feels like a “thank you for your continued support” from Krasinki and it shows. While nothing quite beats the original, this one comes pretty close, and it shows that the thriller genre is not dead and that some films, truly, are best left for the theaters.

While the film’s violence is bit heavier this time around, it doesn’t necessarily detract from the film, nor does it warrant strong caution. I would say, ultimately, the choice lies with you. However, if you plan on going I recommend you watch Part I first, and leave the children at home.

• Violence: Very Heavy— with blood and gore
• Profane language: Moderate— • “J*sus Chr*st” (1) • G*d d*mn (1) • “ h*ll ” (1)
• Vulgar/Crude language: Mild— • 2 S-words (4)
• Nudity: None
• Drugs/Alcohol: • a character uses some vodka as an antiseptic for a wound • a character grabs some prescription medication from a store to help fight an infection
• Occult: None

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers .

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

A Quiet Place Part 2 (Christian Movie Review)

Final Verdict: A well-crafted sequel that delivers on the thrills and scares but never loses focus on the human drama that made the original so successful.  

About The Film

Shhhhhh! Don’t read this review out loud or the aliens will get you!

The original A Quiet Place (2018) was actually the first movie we ever reviewed here on The Collision and was my favorite movie of that year. Granted, as a guy who zealously proselytizes that JAWS is greatest movie ever made, the character vs. monster genre hits a sweet spot for me. Still, A Quiet Place was worthy of admittance into the pantheon of great monster films because the John Krasinski-directed film was never primarily about monster carnage or gratuitous gore—it was about family. Setting that film over a year into the alien invasion, and focusing almost exclusively on the Abbott family, the movie explored how a family navigates a hostile and violent world.

A Quiet Place Part II never loses sight of what made the original so successful. Although the film starts to pull back the curtain to expand its worldbuilding and begins with a flashback glimpse into the horrors of Day 1 of the invasion, the focus remains firmly fixed on the Abbott family. The surrounding devastation and terror are always presented from the perspective of one of the core characters. The film is character-driven rather than spectacle-driven; using the horror elements in service of the human drama, rather than using characters are hollow fodder for empty spectacle.

Of course, it is not just a family drama. It is also horror/thriller that must deliver its fair share of jumps and scares—and it does. The high concept of aliens who hunt by a heightened sense of hearing remains fruitful soil for staging tense scenes and thrilling set pieces. The use of silence is once again used brilliantly.  Watching this film in a theater of people collectively holding their breathes further amplified the experience. My wife and I left the theater, walked across the parking lot back in our car, and were driving home before we stopped talking in whispers. 

As much as I loved the original film, I was skeptical about the idea of a sequel. While not as fresh as the original, A Quiet Place II is a well-crafted and worthy sequel that does enough to justify its existence as more than a Hollywood cash-grab. The somewhat abrupt ending seems to suggest that a Part 3 is imminent, and I’m not sure how many more stories can be squeezed out of this simple concept. But I thought the same about Part 2 and was happily proven wrong. These films are not for everyone, but for those who desire some good scares and heart-warming character drama, the Quiet Place films are quickly establishing themselves as among the best of the genre.

For Consideration

Profanity: Several minor profanities. One use of the Lord’s name in vain.

Sexuality: None. 

Violence: Lots, although the violence is almost always suggestive and occurs off-screen. There is very little blood or violence explicitly shown in-focus on the screen, although the implied violence is disturbing and brutal.

Engage the Film

Growing Up in a Hostile World

The first Quiet Place film served as an extended metaphor for parenting. It examined this theme through the eyes of the two Abbott parents as they grappled with how to raise up their children to live in a violent and hostile world. Real-world events since that film’s release have only further affirmed the relevance of that important message. A Quiet Place 2 continues to unpack this metaphor by shifting the focus from the parents to the children (wonderfully emphasized by a satisfyingly climactic ending). If the first film was a metaphor for raising and developing children, the sequel is about launching those children from the nest and letting them spread their wings.

Throughout the film, the two Abbott children take on increased responsibility. They are forced to combat their fears and insecurities and to contribute to the preservation of the family unit. There is a wonderfully realized generational emphasis that showcases the important protective role of parenting, but also the need for trust and a willingness to allow children come into their own. In a culture today that likewise seems ready to pounce and devour anyone who dares to speak out of line and use their voice, this message remains as relevant and timely as it did with the first film in 2018.       

The Value of Life

Too many horror or monster films fall into the trap of focusing on death . They exist merely to showcase innovative ways for characters to die, often in gratuitous and visceral ways. There is something bloodthirsty and off-putting about such films. With both A Quiet Place films, the focus is firmly on the value of life . Death and violence are always present, but never glorified or presented as an end to itself. Rather, the real threat of death serves to highlight the importance and value of life. A Quiet Place 2 is about perseverance and survival in the face of danger; about pressing on even when things appear hopeless.  

The first Quiet Place film was as surprisingly Pro-Life as any mainstream Hollywood film in recent memory. Despite the horrors and danger, the Abbotts still decide that it is worth bringing a newborn child into the world. The value to life that is not diminished by circumstances, and what seems foolish and reckless to other is showed as something beautiful and natural. A Quiet Place 2 doubles down on this message. In a world that divides and isolates people, and which brings the worst of humanity to the surface, life is still worth living and people are still worth saving. Hopefully it doesn’t require an alien invasion for us to learn these same timeless lessons.   

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A quiet place part ii, common sense media reviewers.

Skillful monster horror sequel has blood, peril.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Champions characters who help one another; those w

Regan (a deaf character played by a deaf actor) is

Child's leg caught in bear trap; blood and gore, s

Softy spoken use of "damn it" (or possibly "goddam

Bottle of vodka used to cleanse wound (not consume

Parents need to know that A Quiet Place Part II is the sequel to 2018's hit horror/monster movie A Quiet Place . Violence is fairly gory and graphic, though most of it is directed at monsters (heads exploding, etc.). A child's leg is caught in a bear trap, with a bloody wound; he screams in pain. A…

Positive Messages

Champions characters who help one another; those who take rather than help are seen as outcasts and villains. Sometimes you have to find other/creative ways to help people.

Positive Role Models

Regan (a deaf character played by a deaf actor) is an amazing role model: She's strong, resourceful, persistent. Evelyn risks her life to protect her family. Less positive representation includes a Black leader being prematurely killed by the monsters.

Violence & Scariness

Child's leg caught in bear trap; blood and gore, screaming in pain. Other humans wounded, some blood visible. Monster-related blood and gore, exploding heads, etc. Scary monster attacks. Guns and shooting (entirely at monsters). Child and baby in peril (locked in hatch with air running out). Monster set on fire. Jump scares. General terror and peril. Decomposing dead bodies, skeletons. Alarming news report on television. A group of outcasts appears to have throat scars, briefly seen, suggesting that they slit their own throats to keep from speaking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Softy spoken use of "damn it" (or possibly "goddamn it"). Exclamatory use of "Jesus Christ."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Bottle of vodka used to cleanse wound (not consumed).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that A Quiet Place Part II is the sequel to 2018's hit horror/monster movie A Quiet Place . Violence is fairly gory and graphic, though most of it is directed at monsters (heads exploding, etc.). A child's leg is caught in a bear trap, with a bloody wound; he screams in pain. A baby is also in peril. Guns are fired, entirely at the monsters. There are also jump scares, scary attacks, and general peril and terror. A character softly says what could be either "goddamn it" or just "damn it," and "Jesus Christ" is spoken once. A bottle of vodka is used to clean a wound but isn't consumed. Sex isn't an issue. The movie is skillfully made, with some amazing sequences, and its pandemic-related images may resonate more with viewers in a post-COVID world than they would have in 2020, when it was originally scheduled for release. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (29)
• Kids say (94)

Based on 29 parent reviews

Your typical sequel!

What's the story.

A QUIET PLACE PART II starts by flashing back to the first day of the sound-seeking monster attacks before moving to Day 474, not long after the events of A Quiet Place . Evelyn Abbott ( Emily Blunt ), her daughter Regan ( Millicent Simmonds ), son Marcus ( Noah Jupe ), and new baby must leave the ruined family stronghold in search of new lodgings. Regan finds a signal, and they head toward an abandoned industrial building. Unfortunately, they walk into a trap, and Marcus' leg is snapped in a bear trap. The building's sole occupant, Emmett ( Cillian Murphy ), tells them to go away and that he can't help them. But Regan discovers a song, Bobby Darin's "By the Sea," playing on the radio and realizes that it's a clue -- that there might yet be a safe place to go. She secretly heads off by herself to find out more, and Evelyn pleads with Emmett to follow her. Meanwhile, Evelyn realizes she needs medical supplies for Marcus and the baby and heads into town. The heroes must not only stay silent to avoid the monsters but also look out for a dangerous new breed of subhumans.

Is It Any Good?

It's not perfect, but this admirable horror sequel -- impeccably, skillfully directed by John Krasinski -- operates with meticulous use of sound and editing. In A Quiet Place Part II , Krasinski briefly appears as Lee in a prologue/flashback, showing the first day of the monster invasion. It's a taut sequence, recalling the early scenes of Hitchcock's The Birds by using commonplace things for suspense. But the movie, released at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, is even more powerful given its pre-attack images of a community together, hugging, sharing food, and gathering for a ball game. Then the story jumps ahead to right after A Quiet Place , where images of masks and a Johnson & Johnson first aid kit feel eerily recognizable.

Even if the overall story is somewhat familiar in spots, Krasinski creates beautiful cross-cutting sequences, wherein images rhyme and build upon one another, working in perfect harmony. One moment, with two simultaneous gasps for fresh air, is almost intoxicating. The soundtrack is focused on sounds -- whistling wind, clanging metal, dripping water, etc. -- turning them into a kind of language all its own. Simmonds' Regan, who is deaf (both in real life and in the film) provides opportunities for even more intricate sound design, as the movie shows what her experiences might be like; she's a powerful role model, not only for the Deaf community. It may once have been "just" a horror sequel, but thanks to the timing of its release, A Quiet Place Part II becomes a symbol for returning back to life.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about A Quiet Place Part II 's violence . How did it make you feel? How is the violence different when it's directed at monsters than when it's directed at humans?

What's the appeal of scary movies ? Why do people sometimes like being scared?

Do you consider Regan a role model ? How is her character an example of positive representation?

How does this sequel compare to the original? Did it seem like there was a good reason for a sequel?

How does the movie promote helping? If you can't help someone in one way, are there other ways of helping? How is the group of subhumans in the movie the opposite of helpful?

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 28, 2021
• On DVD or streaming : July 27, 2021
• Cast : Emily Blunt , Cillian Murphy , Millicent Simmonds
• Director : John Krasinski
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Paramount Pictures
• Genre : Horror
• Topics : Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
• Run time : 97 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : terror, violence and bloody/disturbing images
• Last updated : April 24, 2024

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• DVD & Streaming

A Quiet Place Part II

• Drama , Horror , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• May 28, 2021
• Emily Blunt as Evelyn Abbott; John Krasinski as Lee Abbott; Millicent Simmonds as Regan Abbott; Noah Jupe as Marcus Abbott; Cillian Murphy as Emmett; Djimon Hounsou as Man on Island

Home Release Date

• July 27, 2021
• John Krasinski

Distributor

• Paramount Pictures

Movie Review

Losing a spouse is a terrible and tragic thing.

To lose a spouse right after giving birth during an attack of alien monsters who have super hearing and can swoop in and kill within seconds, however, well that’s worse.

That’s exactly where Evelyn Abbott is right now.

Evelyn’s on her own with two young teens and a newborn, and with no place to go. Evelyn must battle her grief, battle nearly indestructable monsters and somehow find some small bit of shelter where she can hope to keep her kids safe.

Though, let’s face it, safe is a relative term these days.

Oh, and on that front, you may not be surprised to learn that the other terrified survivors in the area near Evelyn’s now burned-to-the-ground farm aren’t too keen on having a woman with a infant in their midst. Babies have such a hard time grasping the concept of being deadly silent.

So what does a woman like Evelyn do? Well, first she steps quietly. She walks with her kids for miles, quietly. She sweats and wheezes quietly under the weight of the family’s few vital posessions.

After that, all she can do is hope. She hopes that someone might offer some shred of assistance. She hopes for some little miracle, one tiny mustard seed of faith, a small bit of bravery from someone. Anyone.

And Evelyn is slightly surprised when she begins to see hints and glimspes of all those things in her teen daughter Regan. Regan is deaf—an auditory limitation that handicaps her doubly in a world where every tiny sound you make can end in nearly instant death. But Regan has always taken after her dad. And that’s made her resourceful, observant, honarable and willing to give everything to help someone in need.

All of those traits are exactly what Evelyn and the Abbott family need right now. They just have to live long enough to put those excellent character qualities to use.

Positive Elements

In a flashback scene that shows us how the alien attack began, Evelyn’s husband, Lee, quickly assesses the situation. He’s also instrumental in making brave choices and getting his family to safety.

We see the similar self-sacrificial bravery in many of this film’s characters. Evelyn repeatedly puts her life on the line to protect her kids. And a man named Emmet—who lost his whole family and initially wants nothing to do with Evelyn and her brood—eventually steps up to use what skills he possesses to defend others.

The Abbott kids (Regan and Marcus) bravely step into the fight, too. They both make some less-than-wise choices along the way. But Regan, in particular, uses the lessons she’s learning to defeat the monsters. She also deciphers certain messages and clues in a radio message and bravely gives her all to save her family and others. “I can save them. I can save us!” she says in sign language when told that she needs to turn back. She also challenges Emmett to be a better and braver man.

Spiritual Elements

During the flashback showing the aliens’ initial attack, a frightened man verbally recites the Lord’s Prayer to calm himself. Lee realizes the danger and quiets the man before he draws the attacking creature’s attention.  

Evelyn visits her dead son’s grave/memorial, and a small cross is planted on the spot where he died.

Sexual Content

Violent content.

An opening flashback scene featuring a flaming spacecraft crashing to the Earth, which gives a sense of context to the alien invasion and immediately ushers viewers in to the fact that A Quiet Place Part II is far more monster focused than the first film. A sense of rabid chaos delivered by multiple creatures carries over into the rest of the story.

The creatures’ talon-tipped attacks rip and rend everything from furniture and walls, to the metal exteriors of vehicles and farm buildings. We see scores of people and vehicles being quickly slammed around, with windows being smashed. The scenery, large and small, gets chewed to bits. 

We also watch the beasts slash at humans with their angled, arachnid-like limbs on numerous occasions. Crowds of victims are snatched, dragged away and tossed around like rag-dolls. On other occasions people sit or crouch in fear as the blind creatures slowly circle around or above them, listening for a potential instant kill, clicking and ticking ominously as they move.

It’s implied that scores and scores of people are killed in the course of the film. And we see everything from fresh kills to older, desiccated corpses. But in each case, we are spared any bloodiness. (In many cases the camera cuts away just as a strike lands.)

A young boy steps on a bear trap and has his ankle and foot instantly crushed. This event turns out to be very bloody, and the camera looks at his mangled appendage while alcohol is poured on the open wounds.

When humans attack the aliens—causing the aliens to expose tender tissue, blasting them with shotguns and rifles, and striking them with bludgeons—things can get a little bloody, too. Several creatures are left in pools of their own gore after being defeated.

Humans attack humans, as well, choking and pummeling victims. One man almost drowns underwater with a noose around his neck.

Crude or Profane Language

One use each of the s-word and the words “h—” and “d–n.” We hear a single exclamation of “oh my god” and a misuse of Jesus’ name.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Emmett has a half-full bottle of vodka that Evelyn uses for an antiseptic someone’s wound. Evelyn also walks into town to get prescription meds to ward off infection.

Other Negative Elements

Emmett’s spirit is initially quite crushed, and he refuses to give the Abbotts any help inspite of their obvious need. A small group of people grab Emmett and Regan and appear ready to steal everything they have and cause them bodily harm before being interrupted.

It’s very, very difficult to catch lightning in a bottle … twice.

In that light, fans of the 2018 hit A Quiet Place aren’t apt to find their time with the Abbotts—and their aurally amped-up alien attackers—to be quite as emotionally riveting or blood-pressure-raising this go round.

For one thing, the story’s family focus is diluted a bit here because the Abbott clan members are sent off in different directions at times . The messaging then becomes more about stepping up to a great challenge and helping others, rather than just holding a family unit together. And the movie as a whole plays out as much more of a straightforward creature-feature, with the sharp-toothed and talon-clawed monsters taking more of a hacking and bashing center stage.

That said, there’s a lot here to appreciate if you’re in the mood for a good scare at the movies. Director John Krasinski paces things well, while still hitting all the cinematic thrill ride beats you would expect. The ticking-and-clicking beasty tension still leaves you on the edge of your seat without splashing you with an abundance of gore. And the self-sacrificial heroics are still pretty cheer worthy.

Should younger family members still skip this pic in favor of something, well, less terrorizing? Yeah, I’d have to check that box. Unless, of course, you like the idea of the tykes being up all night with “Mommy, mommy, make it go away!” on their lips.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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A Quiet Place Part II Review: Had Me Quiet Like A Church Mouse

Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

A Quiet Place Part II Trailer:

A Quiet Place II picked up in an exciting fashion by giving us a bit of a prequel to introduce the film. It was nice to see John Krasinki’s character once again, and it immediately invoked the emotional impact of his character’s actions from the previous film. The opening sequence was the perfect way to lock you into the film as it included some exciting moments. My favorite was easily the car and bus scene with the family trying to make their way through all the chaos.

What made A Quiet Place II so captivating were the technical aspects of the film. The sound mixing was really engaging especially when we had moments where there was no sound at all. This was a great way to give us the unique perspective of the deaf character in the film, and it added an extra element of fear during some scenes. For many people who are not deaf, having that brief moment happen in the movie almost makes you feel more vulnerable as you relate to the character’s situations. Come to think of it, more silence may have been welcomed as this was the case in the previous movie.

Along with the sound mixing was some excellent cinematography. A Quiet Place II is filled with unique camera angles that immerse you into the moment. A great example of this would be in the train scene. (You’ll know it when you see it.) This is exactly what contributes to having such terrifying and suspenseful moments in the movie. Often times, you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled in case a creature is lurking about.

Regarding the alien creatures, I was originally concerned that we’d be seeing far too much of them. As a result it would make them less intimidating. However, director John Krasinski managed to find a suitable balance in their presence in the film and still found various ways to keep them scary. You can definitely feel similar vibes from the Alien movies in this.

The only minor issue I had with A Quiet Place II was the decision making by some of the characters. More specifically, the kids were frustrating in some of the scenes. This was a similar issue in the first movie that had the kids doing questionable things that went against conventional thinking. Their actions could involve anything from going off on their own or investigating things in spite of pure danger.

When you think about the fact that the characters in this movie have been enduring this invasion for a year and a half, some level of common sense should be expected. Thankfully, these actions were redeemed in the film but it didn’t make them any less annoying.

The Verdict:

A Quiet Place II was an exceptional follow-up as it maintained a similar sense of terror and suspense as its predecessor.  What works best here is that this sequel does manage to introduce some new story elements that helps to keep things intriguing. Thus, A Quiet Place II successfully carries the baton even if it doesn’t outmatch the previous movie.

I was originally concerned about how John Krasinski would be able to make a new sequel to a film that honestly didn’t really need one. He did a great job with this film although I think this film should be as far it goes in this franchise. The first film gave us such a unique experience, especially in theaters, that it was hard to top that even with a good sequel. There’s only so much a sequel can do to supersede the special experience the other film provided audiences.

If possible, it would be ideal to watch A Quiet Place II in theaters. The communal experience of the audience being collectively quiet is part of the fun with this film. While it isn’t required, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to revisit the first movie first before watching A Quiet Place II . Since the story picks up right after the events of the first film, it would just help a bit. Either way, be sure to check out A Quiet Place II when you get the chance.

Director: John Krasinski Writers: John Krasinski Stars: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou A Quiet Place Part II  is now in theaters May 28, 2021. Be sure to follow E-Man’s Movie Reviews on Facebook, Subscribe on YouTube , or follow me on Twitter/IG @EmansReviews for even more movie news and reviews!

• Acting - 7.5/10 7.5/10
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• Plot/Screenplay - 8/10 8/10
• Setting/Theme - 7.5/10 7.5/10
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About Emmanuel "E-Man" Noisette

Emmanuel is a Rotten Tomatoes Approved, Chicago film critic who founded Eman's Movie Reviews . He's contributed to other outlets such as ScreenRant andThe Wrap, and has been featured on television such as MSNBC. Be sure to join the other fans on his Facebook Fan Page for even more movie opinions and fun. Feel free to contact him with any professional inquiries: [email protected]

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Movie review: ‘A Quiet Place Part II’

“A Quiet Place Part II” (Paramount) drains away the suspense, analogies and underlying message about family bonds from the 2018 original in order to set up a franchise reminiscent of an immersive dystopian theme-park ride.

Killing humans and damaging infrastructure remains the singular goal of the alien invaders from the first movie. So those few beleaguered earthlings who have succeeded in evading them carry on in survivalist mode.

As those who saw the kickoff will remember, these extraterrestrials are toothy, blind and persistently enraged. But they also possess super-sensitive hearing, which means that their potential victims must avoid making the slightest noise if they are to escape detection.

The predators have a corresponding weakness, however. They’re vulnerable to high-pitched frequencies such as those from electronic interference. The paroxysms of pain into which such sounds plunge them disable the intruders long enough to make them targets for rifle fire, thus increasing the splatter factor.

The strength of the previous film lay in its courage. It was bold enough to show the impact of a child’s death at the hands of the enemy. In the aftermath, there was grief as well as enough blame to go around, but ultimately the bereaved family learned how to pull together and persevere.

Returning director John Krasinski, who also takes over as sole screenwriter, eliminates another striking feature of his earlier project: a script that involved only 92 lines of spoken dialogue, mostly whispered. Now, characters seem far less constrained, talking whenever necessary.

With the family patriarch Krasinski played last time out of the picture, mom Evelyn (Emily Blunt), deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and son Marcus (Noah Jupe), with their infant brother in tow, are forced to flee their farmstead in upstate New York. They find a new haven in an abandoned steel mill.

Regan, whose disability has made her relatives adept at sign language, breaks out on her own to find a radio station from which to broadcast vibrations toxic to the aliens. To do so, she’ll need the help of an unlikely substitute father figure, her grumpy former neighbor Emmett (Cillian Murphy).

With nothing new to reveal about the marauders and their behavior — anyone seeking a parable about the Covid-19 pandemic will be left disappointed — the sequel merely repeats familiar sci-fi tropes.

Although Evelyn turns out to be a pistol-packin’ mama with impeccable aim and abundant ammo, there’s not much on display stouthearted older adolescents won’t be able to handle. How rewarding either they or their elders will find this second outing, however, is another question.

The film contains gun and physical violence with fleeting gore. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

— Kurt Jensen

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A Quiet Place Part II review: Silence is still golden in this solid horror sequel

Just over three years ago, A Quiet Place crept into theaters on skittering little crab-alien tiptoes, trapping the screams in audiences' collective throats and taking home an astonishing $340 million at the box office. Then two weeks before the sequel's slated March 2020 release, the world itself went silent, cineplexes among the uncountable lights dimmed and doors shut by COVID.

Unlike some who shrugged and pivoted to streaming or on demand, the studio ultimately chose to hold out for a post-pandemic return. And so A Quiet Place Part II (in theaters May 28) arrives in a much, well, quieter place — putting viewers in the odd position, at least for its opening moments, of envying the people up there on screen. Sure, they may be about to lose everything and everyone they love to a rampaging race of extraterrestrial invertebrates, but just look at them! Strolling freely through their bucolic small town, cheering on the local Little League, thoughtlessly breathing in each other's un-fatal air.

But it is of course a trick — or more accurately an origin story, flashing back to the days before Lee (writer-director John Krasinski ) and Evelyn ( Emily Blunt ) and their young children were forever altered by the blind, scrabbly invaders whose sole purpose seems to be to seek and destroy human life wherever they find it. (Oh, the metaphors.) And it's almost immediately immersive to be here again — this Norman Rockwell painting that is also a cleverly torqued daylight nightmare, designed as a puzzle only its smart, resourceful characters can solve — even if it ultimately feels like three quarters of a very good movie chopped off from a whole.

If you haven't seen the first film, you may want to stop reading now; if you have, you know that Lee is dead, having sacrificed himself for his children. That leaves his grieving widow alone with a newborn — when even the smallest noise summons certain death, is there a more dangerous accessory than a wailing, unpredictable infant? — and her two surviving children, Regan (deaf actress Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus ( Ford v. Ferrari' s Noah Jupe). Regan's hearing impairment has given them the shared competitive advantage of sign language, and another piece of hard-earned wisdom: the aliens, whatever goes on in their buggy brain pans, can be crippled by the feedback from her cochlear implant.

There's also an old friend of the family, Emmett ( Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy), who has suffered his own profound losses and managed to carve out a sort of citadel in an abandoned steel mill; he's not Lee, but maybe he can help. Once again, Krasinski manages to render relatively straightforward tasks — nursing a baby, tuning a radio, walking through a train car — harrowing; dialogue, by necessity, is rarely wasted, and his actors feel far more sympathetically human and real than most meat-puppet horror chum. Maybe that's why it all ends so abruptly, after a meticulous walk-up: When you've put in the work for this kind of world-building, it's not a one-and-done sequel; it's a franchise . Grade: B+

(A Quiet Place Part II is in wide release May 28, then comes to streaming on Paramount+ after 45 days.)

Related content:

• With A Quiet Place and Jungle Cruise , Emily Blunt headlines Hollywood's comeback season
• A Quiet Place Part II gets a final hair-raising trailer — 14 months after initial theatrical delay
• New A Quiet Place movie in the works for 2022 based on John Krasinski's idea

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I still cannot believe that John Krasinski got moviegoers to be silent back in 2018. His box-office smash “ A Quiet Place ” (co-written with Scott Beck and Bryan Woods ) went beyond caring about characters trying to survive in quiet—it taught uneasy audiences to follow suit, filling theaters with silent observers. No moviegoer would want Krasinski to repeat this terror exactly for a sequel, but the changes he’s made in this follow-up then feel especially brash: it’s bigger, faster, louder, and more typical for the horror blockbuster genre. “Part II” has got approximately triple the amount of dialogue as the original, and its horror is far more literal and straightforward. If you were more scared of the sound-hating, generic looking crab/spider monsters with the Venom-like heads from the first movie than you were the visceral challenge of complete silence, “A Quiet Place Part II” is especially for you.  

In writing and directing this sequel, Krasinski proves his intelligence and his non-subversive priorities when it comes to being a genre director. He also asserts his talent at orchestrating tense life-or-death scenes with an exciting sense of when to go slow and when to floor it. In its best moments, “A Quiet Place Part II” reminded me of Steven Spielberg cutting loose with “ The Lost World: Jurassic Park ,” letting his beasts rampage through a new environment in a staggering way. Even if this sequel remains firmly in the shadows of the original, I wanted part three as soon as it was over.  

The first movie ended essentially at its climax, with our heroes, the Abbotts, finally tipping the scales after 400-some days of terror under their noise-slaying captors. “Part II” begins with a deliciously cruel reset, going back to day one of all this, when no one knew anything. We as audience members know what comes eventually (Krasinski’s plotting treats the first movie as required viewing), and that makes a scene at a Little League baseball game—an open field of noise—an especially nerve-rattling, jack-in-the-box sequence in a movie that has plenty of them. The match is called off when something especially big blows up in the sky; everyone shuffles home. Many citizens don’t stand a chance after the aliens suddenly slam into town, sending Lee Abbott (Krasinski) into hiding with his daughter Regan ( Millicent Simmonds ), while mother Evelyn ( Emily Blunt ) frantically drives with her two sons. This is like a high-octane victory lap for what Krasinski accomplished in the first movie especially as its bracing violence reacclimatizes us to fearing sound, while locking us into different characters’ points-of-view with long takes as they try to navigate pure chaos. “A Quiet Place Part II” announces here that it’s playing a different and considerably less interesting game, but it’s a bravura sequence.

“Part II” then jumps right to the end of the last one, moments after Evelyn victoriously cocked a shotgun. With their family's barn burning, and patriarch Lee dead in the fields, it’s time to leave home. Carrying her newborn baby, Evelyn travels with her daughter Regan and son Marcus ( Noah Jupe ) off the sand path that had previously been laid by Lee, past the gravesite of their young son from the beginning of the first movie. Regan has her cochlear implant in hand, looking to further weaponize it after its feedback proved at the end of the first movie to give the monsters debilitating headaches (or something like that). Her search for more people sets them on a course for a signal, and the unknown of humanity.  

With part one focusing on sacrifice for family, this sequel now concerns what one would give up to help others. Cillian Murphy plays the bleary Emmett, the newest addition to the series, a family friend from the ball game who ponders this question when he refuses to help the Abbotts after they step into the abandoned factory he lords over. He is incredibly resistant at first, especially given his own loss and waning food supply. And he warns Evelyn of looking for others, talking about how there are now “people who aren’t worth saving.” Emmett has an intriguing bitterness, until the film’s overall emotional growth is reduced to Emmett learning to follow the gospel of all-American hero Lee, which is not the only cheesy idea that Krasinski takes too seriously. And yet within the movie’s fear of other humans, it does ramp up a good bit of fear later on with people who are less giving than the Abbotts: it’s scary when a group of people are staring at you, and not saying a word.  

As his characters venture into new territory, it’s solid craftsman Krasinski who is noticeably not taking many risks. He leads with intention, and he’s confident with multiple threads at once, and in putting every cast member (including the baby!) in uncomfortable danger. And yet any time he’ll do something really radical—like bring Regan to the forefront, alone with shotgun in hand—he eventually shirks from it for a development that’s noticeably easier. Or in some cases, he’ll rely on an easy scare with a dead body popping into frame, piling on the movie's numerous loud noises for scares. The series’ original appeal of minimal, hushed dialogue is toyed with too, as “Part II” bends some of the rules eagerly enforced all for the sake of quiet-ish conversations that streamline emotions in a way that’s far less eloquent than the sign language in the original.  

The performances remain sound, and intense, even if the story gives little space for them. Blunt is in more of a straightforward action mode, having already proven how bad-ass she was in the first movie, still embodying a great deal of physical stress and the maternal urge to protect. Jupe and Simmonds are true professionals when it comes to crying, screaming terror, and they both bring out a tenderness to this story of discovery with glimmers of hope. And Krasinski remains good at casting interesting faces for their intensity—Murphy’s face can show a certain weariness in different lights, and here he looks beat, mysterious, but human. Djimon Hounsou and Scoot McNairy also lend their unique presences to this movie, but that’s all that can really be said.  

The only entity that moves faster than Michael P. Shawver ’s editing are the monsters themselves. But there’s no love for them from the story—they’re like an actor in an ensemble who has to be there contractually, even though no one would invite them to the wrap party. Aside from falling from the sky, they're not further developed by Krasinski, and the amount of focus this story gives to them shines a light on how weakly conceived they are (however impeccably rendered by ILM). Krasinski’s interest in going against explainer fan culture—good luck with this one, YouTube—is intriguing, but the lack of background feels like he just has too little to say about his monsters. They become plainly dull villains here, aggressively silencing human beings with a slash or a toss, and, ho hum, that’s it. Two movies in, and their mystery is starting to hint that there’s no there there.  

What’s surprising about the whole “A Quiet Place” emotional experience largely fades here, especially as all of this unfolds with a numbing amount of max-volume slams, bangs, and bass warbles; Marco Beltrami's score brings in the original's meditative themes when it's not trying to blow you to the back of the theater. But the moments in which humans and monsters clash are incredibly robust and kinetic, and succeed at getting you to think of nothing else in the story but the terror on screen. Along with cinematographer Polly Morgan and editor Shawver, Krasinski proves highly adept at building and layering in-your-face sequences, especially as three different storylines climax with beloved characters screaming for their lives. One of Krasinski's best visual touches involves two scenes that trap the viewer into a point-of-view of being in a fast car, like at the beginning when Evelyn is trying to speed-reverse from a hijacked bus. These thrilling sequences give the film plenty of adrenaline at its beginning and end, and play like a nod from a still-evolving Krasinski: he’s embracing “enjoy your ride” filmmaking, even if that can encourage a viewer’s passivity. Here’s hoping that “Part III” leaves more room for what got people talking in the first place.  

Available only in theaters May 28.

Nick Allen is the former Senior Editor at RogerEbert.com and a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film credits.

A Quiet Place Part II (2021)

Rated PG-13

Emily Blunt as Evelyn Abbott

Cillian Murphy as Emmett

Millicent Simmonds as Regan Abbott

Noah Jupe as Marcus Abbott

Wayne Duvall as Roger

John Krasinski as Lee Abbott

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Writer (characters)

• Bryan Woods

Cinematographer

• Polly Morgan
• Michael P. Shawver
• Marco Beltrami

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Movie review: 'a quiet place part ii' resonates.

Bob Mondello

A Quiet Place Part II , among the first films delayed due to the pandemic back in March of 2020, has finally opened. Was it worth the wait?

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‘A Quiet Place Part II’: Spine-tingling sequel brings more terror of the strong, silent type

The abbotts venture into the unknown in a meticulously crafted monster movie that leaves us wanting more..

Evelyn (Emily Blunt) has a newborn baby to hush as she leads her family into the unknown in “A Quiet Place Part II.”

Paramount Pictures

We begin at the real beginning, with a cacophony of sounds.

The clanging of a bell announcing a new customer entering a pharmacy. Said customer’s boots clomping along the floor. A loud WHOOOSHING noise as the customer tears off a plastic bag by the fruit stand. Cut to a Little League baseball game, with the sounds of bat meeting ball, parents and siblings cheering, friendly banter in the stands.

This is Day 1, and these are the final moments of normal, loud, everyday life before the aliens landed and you realized they couldn’t see you but were attracted by any and all sounds, and if they hear you they will surely kill you.

Writer-director John Krasinski opens “A Quiet Place Part II” with a brilliantly executed and absolutely terrifying flashback prologue to the day the monsters arrived, wreaking havoc on the world, killing millions and plunging the isolated survivors into a life of silence, where the snapping of a twig or a cry of pain or a dropped plate could mean a death sentence. It is the perfect scene to immerse us back into the “Quiet Place” universe and it’s the perfect scene to welcome back audiences into theaters — the kind of exhilarating, hold-your-breath, hang-onto-your-popcorn, scary movie sequence that works so much better with a big screen and surround sound and a crowd than as a home viewing experience.

Opening in theaters only on Memorial Day weekend and projected to gross as much as $50 million in the United States and Canada, “A Quiet Place Part II” might not carry quite the same original wallop as the original (how could it?), but this is a meticulously crafted, spine-tingling, fantastically choreographed monster movie that expands the canvas, works as a stand-alone story and leaves us wanting more from this franchise. (And yes, there’s a spinoff in the works, scheduled for a 2022 release.)

Regan (Millicent Simmonds) sets her sights on reaching an island where she might be safe from the monsters.

The main story picks up in the immediate aftermath of the events from “A Quiet Place,” with Krasinski’s Lee Abbott gone after sacrificing himself to save his family, and mom Evelyn (Emily Blunt), son Marcus (Noah Jupe) and daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), along with Evelyn’s newborn baby, forced to leave their farm in upstate New York and venture into the deadly quiet unknown. What they find is a bleak, post-apocalyptic landscape, strewn with corpses and skeleton remains and abandoned cars, a world where hope seems to have died. With Evelyn carrying the baby in that disturbing but effective coffin-like crib with an oxygen attachment (so the child’s cries can’t be heard), the Abbotts are on the run when Marcus’ leg gets caught in a bear trap, and what do you do when your leg is caught in a bear trap? You scream bloody hell.

Enter Cillian Murphy’s Emmett, and we knew Emmett was going to be a major player in this story because we see him in the stands at the Little League game in the prologue and it’s clear he’s friends with Lee. But that was a different Emmett from a different time. This Emmett has lost his entire family and is living in an abandoned steel factory he has fashioned into a fortress of sorts, and he tells Evelyn and her family he feels for them but there’s not enough supplies, not enough food and water, and they can’t stay for long. As for the outside world, Emmett tells them the people who have managed to stay alive — well, they’re not the kind of people worth saving. (The entire cast in this tight ensemble is wonderful — conveying worlds of emotions, often in scenes with precious little dialogue.)

Cillian Murphy plays a friend of the Abbotts willing to take them in, but not for long.

With top-tier production values including Polly Morgan’s rich and textured cinematography (shot with 35mm film), Jess Gonchor’s intricate and claustrophobic production design and the sound department’s pitch-perfect use of noises ranging from the clinking of bottles to a squawking bird to those hair-raising clickety-click noises coming from the predatory monsters, “A Quiet Place Part II” branches into parallel storylines: one involving Evelyn and Marcus silently teaming up to save the baby and fend off a monster who has invaded Emmett’s place, and the other following Emmett and the hearing-impaired and ever-resourceful Regan as they embark on a perilous mission to reach a boat that can take them to an island that could be a sanctuary from the terror. (The monsters can’t swim.)

As was the case with the first film, there are moments when you can’t help but wonder, “Why don’t they try this?” or, “How come they never thought of that?” but hey, we could say the same thing about every memorable scary thriller series, from “Jaws” to “Jurassic Park” to “Alien,” and the fact “A Quiet Place” is worthy of being in the same ballpark as those classics tells you this franchise in its first two films is off to a very strong start.

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‘A Quiet Place Part II’ Review: Pump Up the Volume

This sequel to John Krasinski’s alien-invasion blockbuster is brasher, louder and less focused than its predecessor.

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By Jeannette Catsoulis

Movies need endings, but franchises need cliffhangers, and “A Quiet Place Part II” is emblematic of this problem. The first “A Quiet Place” (2018) gave us a beautifully tragic finale, one that emphasized the story’s core themes of human resilience and familial devotion. It was almost perfect, and it could have been enough.

The film’s unexpected success, however, gave Paramount Pictures other ideas. And while this new installment is, like its predecessor, wonderfully acted and intuitively directed (by John Krasinski, who is solely responsible for the story this time around), it has also largely replaced the hushed horror of the original with full-on action. Faster, coarser and far noisier, “Part II” sacrifices emotional depth for thriller setups that do less to advance the plot than grow the younger characters.

A tensely orchestrated opening rewinds to Day 1 of the alien invasion as Lee and Evelyn Abbott (Krasinski and Emily Blunt) and their three children enjoy a small-town Little League game. Once again employing a combination of terrifying visual effects and unsettling sound design, Krasinski and his team build a sequence of kinetic chaos that serves as both prologue to the first movie and primer for those who unwisely skipped it.

Catapulted to Day 474, mere minutes after the earlier film’s devastating conclusion, we find the remaining family members — including the newborn whose birth was a petrifying highlight of the previous installment — seeking shelter with a former neighbor, Emmett (Cillian Murphy), in an abandoned mill. Emmett, withdrawn and bereaved, is a less than congenial host. Nevertheless, when Evelyn’s daughter, Regan (still played to perfection by the deaf actor Millicent Simmonds), sneaks off to follow a radio signal she believes indicates other survivors, he agrees to follow and bring her home.

Splitting the film into two separate story lines, Krasinski strains to replicate the bonding that gave “A Quiet Place” its heart — scenes of tender domesticity that paused the horror and allowed us to exhale. And while the remainder of “Part II” never quite rises to the vigor and excitement of its prologue, its action-movie commitments leave little room for the characters to mourn their losses. So as we follow Regan and Emmett’s sometimes harrowing adventures; watch her injured brother, Marcus (Noah Jupe), fight to protect the baby back at the steel mill; and worry about Evelyn as she scavenges for oxygen and medical supplies, “Part II” becomes primarily a story of children forced to grow up too fast and see too much.

The aliens themselves, though, remain unfathomable, wanting nothing more than to eradicate us. (An idea that now, more than a year after the film’s original release date, feels uncomfortably metaphorical.) We know that they’re blind, navigate by sound, and that the feedback from Regan’s cochlear implant gives them the heebie-jeebies. But what do they eat? (If not humans, what are all those teeth for?) Are there baby beasties? Show me the nests!

Though in many respects an exemplary piece of filmmaking, “Part II” remains hobbled by a script that resolves two separate crises while leaving the movie itself in limbo. At least until Part III.

A Quiet Place Part II Rated PG-13 for toothy monsters and skeevy humans. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes. In theaters.

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‘A Quiet Place Part II’ Review: John Krasinski’s Monster Movie Sequel Amps Up the Scares

Tight-lipped alien-invasion sequel feels even more unsettling in a world cautiously emerging from the coronavirus.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

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For many, John Krasinski ’s “ A Quiet Place Part II ” will be their first movie back since the pandemic forced theaters to shut down. There’s a certain poetry to that, since the high-tension horror sequel picks up just over a year into a life-changing threat to humanity. After a delay of nearly as long from the original March 2020 release date, the fictional Abbott family — or what remains of it — now seems more relatable than ever. They listened to the news when a deadly invasion struck, they played it even more cautious than their neighbors, and they made it this far. Now what?

Well, if you’re vaccinated and feeling safe enough to step foot outside your home, Krasinski has crafted a follow-up that justifies the trip. It can be hard to believe that both the sequel and the instant-classic 2018 original were produced by Michael Bay, a filmmaker who has pushed the moviegoing experience to ear-splitting extremes, since Krasinski so effectively embraces the opposite strategy: Less is more, suggestion can be scarier than showing everything, and few things are more unnerving than silence.

Things got loud when the monsters attacked, but most of the movie was spent in a state of hushed suspense, as the Abbotts made every effort to avoid the detection of creatures with incredibly sensitive hearing. As a result, audiences found themselves attuned to every little sound in the auditorium itself. You couldn’t help noticing the innocuous sniffles and coughs that accompany any public screening experience, except that now, as people cautiously return to theaters, such noises may trigger an extra set of anxieties.

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Whereas “A Quiet Place” opened several months into a frightening new “normal” — one in which humans were no longer the top of the food chain — the new movie backtracks to the day the alien species arrived. That’s a smart way around an unfortunate additional limitation put on the sequel: namely, that Krasinski’s character didn’t survive the original. By flashing back to that initial attack, the director can show us how the entire Abbott clan reacted to Earth’s new apex predator, offering a little more time with the family’s late patriarch amid a handful of ambitious close encounters (like the one where Emily Blunt ’s Evelyn narrowly avoids being hit by an oncoming bus).

Flash forward 474 days, and the surviving members — mother Evelyn, resourceful daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), kid brother Marcus (Noah Jupe) and a newborn whose crying could cost them all their lives — must leave the farm and seek shelter at one of the other encampments, marked by bonfires on the horizon. While Krasinski’s core influences so far have been Steven Spielberg and Stephen King, the new movie also cribs from “The Walking Dead” and virtually every mainstream zombie movie that’s come before. The dilemma: hunker down and defend oneself, Alamo style, or venture out and hope what’s left of humankind might still have some vestige of civilization left to it.

The Abbotts are lucky that the first person they meet is an old friend, Emmett ( Cillian Murphy ), who’s been hiding out in an abandoned steel mill. It takes some convincing to guilt him into helping them, but Krasinski (who takes sole writing credit this time around) loves a protective and potentially self-sacrificing father figure. Though the movie empowers its two leading ladies — especially fan favorite Regan, whose cochlear implant already provided an almost-too-convenient defense against the aliens — the director sends Emmett along as chaperone.

When Regan finds herself cornered by one of the creatures on a train, who better to fire the off-screen shot that saves her? But it’s Regan’s idea to find the nearest radio station and use her cochlear implant to broadcast a signal that could defeat the beasts once and for all. Getting there is doubly dangerous, since other people can be unpredictable, and there are more monsters lurking and listening no matter where they go.

Krasinski takes one of those fatuous “a film by” credits on “A Quiet Place Part II,” and yet, there’s no denying the beardy “Office” star’s ingenuity behind the camera, which extends from the movie’s concept through the director’s oversight of visual effects, sound design and other post-production elements. With its conceit of a family trapped in a farmhouse, “A Quiet Place” owed a clear debt to “Signs” (right down to the inanely simple chink in the aliens’ armor). In a way, the sequel feels even more M. Night Shyamalan-esque, drawing out as it does seemingly mundane sequences for maximum suspense.

With a domestic box office of $188 million, the first film was seen widely enough that Krasinski is probably safe in assuming the audience for this one is up to speed, and therefore justified in weaving tiny nods to “A Quiet Place” throughout (such as the spaceship toy that got the Abbotts’ youngest child killed). But instead of addressing the gaping plot holes — why no one else has figured out the aliens’ weakness, or why these creatures have such scary teeth if they don’t stop to eat anything — the new film wagers if you’re on board for the ride, logic shouldn’t matter.

But it does make a difference, and anyone bothered by the way Krasinski has already ignored such glaring inconsistencies as the monsters’ ability to hear small noises from far away, but not breathing or heartbeats mere inches from their ears, will drive themselves crazy this time around. As the helmer’s canvas widens, it becomes even harder to overlook the obvious (like the decision to transport a baby through open spaces), amounting to a cunningly executed thriller that will leave half the audience wondering, “Why didn’t they just do that in the first place?”

Reviewed at AMC Century City, Los Angeles, May 17, 2021. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 97 MIN.

• Production: A Paramount Pictures release, presented in association with Michael Bay, of a Platinum Dunes, Sunday Night production. Producers: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, John Krasinski. Executive producers: Allyson Seeger, Joann Perritano, Aaron Janus.
• Crew: Director, writer: John Krasinski, based on characters created by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck. Camera: Polly Morgan. Editor: Michael P. Shawver. Music: Marco Beltrami.
• With: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski.

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A Quiet Place Part II review – Emily Blunt horror is something to scream about

A hearing-impaired child leads the revolt against lethal aliens with super-sensitive ears in this follow-up to the smash-hit horror

T he first Quiet Place movie emitted the most piercing silent scream imaginable. This sequel from writer-director John Krasinski may not quite have all its focus and intimate horror, while the borrowings from Alien, Jurassic Park and Jaws are admittedly more obvious this time around. But it’s a really effective and engrossing followup, with an absolutely sensational “prelude” sequence at the top of the movie, a barnstorming shocker equal to anything in AQP1 – showing the panic and terror that hit planet Earth when we were initially invaded by these hideous blind beasts whose supersensitive hearing meant that humans could only survive by being silent. The slightest noise would bring slaughter.

AQP2 repurposes the situation as a quest narrative, intercutting with some style the nightmarish ordeals of those who venture out from their bunker, and those who have remained behind. The dual storylines are wrapped up together ingeniously with images and ideas slyly implanted at the very beginning. And there are some jump scares that had me Fosbury-flopping out of my seat with a yelp.

We begin effectively where the original film left off. Lee (Krasinski) is no longer with us, leaving behind his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt), his son Marcus (Noah Jupe), hearing-impaired daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and their new baby, a possible source of fatal screams who must be subdued with an oxygen supply. This family chance across their former friend and neighbour Emmett (Cillian Murphy). When smart and resourceful Regan figures out that there may be a community of souls out there who have figured out a way to live without fear, she impulsively goes out in secret to try to find them – and tearful, wretched Evelyn persuades the morose and resentful Emmett to follow her and keep her safe. Meanwhile, she will remain with Marcus and the baby, and the double storyline commences in parallel.

As ever, the jeopardy device is the technique Regan has discovered to counterattack the monsters: her hearing aid can be induced to go into feedback, which can be amplified through a little speaker she has to carry around with her and this causes the creatures to go into spasm. But this audio shriek can’t be maintained long and also alerts them to where the human is – so you have only a few moments to rack up your shotgun and let the alien have it right between where its eyes would be. And it’s never quite long enough.

What is interesting about this film is that it quite persuasively shows us a post-post-apocalyptic situation. In just a short time, cringing, cowed humanity has evolved into a beaten colonised life form and then evolved one step further down, into feral beings who soundlessly turn on each other.

It’s a tiny shame that the film doesn’t give more screen time to the excellent Blunt and I did wonder if Krasinski considered dreaming up some Battleship Potemkin-style scares for that vulnerable little baby; maybe he thought that was too obvious. But Simmonds is an excellent performer: bold, confident and forthright, holding her own opposite the alpha-emoting presence of Murphy.

In the end, it’s impossible not to see these gross creatures as Covid metaphors and impossible not to delight in their comeuppance. What a pleasure to see a big, brash picture like this on the big screen.

• Emily Blunt
• A Quiet Place
• Horror films
• Drama films
• Science fiction and fantasy films

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A Quiet Place Part II Reviews

Silence continues to be golden with this horror franchise. The sequel is filled with all the breath-holding tension that made the original so intensely scary.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Aug 10, 2023

Quiet Place Part II depicts quietness as a strength, and the film’s release shows that the quietness of the past year can be resolved through the mutable, powerful sensibilities of cinema.

Full Review | Jul 27, 2023

One of the best sequels ever created. Fascinating world building, amazing performances, & truthfully one of the best first acts I’ve experienced in awhile. It starts & never stops for a moment building on each & every scene

Full Review | Jul 26, 2023

A Quiet Place Part II feels less than its predecessor in almost every element, but it's still one of the best sequels of the genre. Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt are remarkable, but Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds are astonishing,

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 24, 2023

A Quiet Place II has some of the most beautiful stories to tell. It’s a love letter to the next generation. A love letter to understanding people and families and especially children.

Full Review | Jul 23, 2023

A Quiet Place Part II retains the formula's delicacy intact in mining primal fears and focusing on its characters. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | May 3, 2023

A Quiet Place Part II isn’t always as quiet as the title or the first film might suggest, but the more silent moments are the most impactful.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | May 2, 2023

John Krasinski crafts a masterclass in suspense with Hitchcockian anxiety that would make the master proud.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 31, 2023

A Quiet Place Part II doubles down on what made its predecessor so popular, delivering another ridiculously riveting feat of horror filmmaking from John Krasinski.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Sep 1, 2022

The impeccable mix of camerawork, sound design, and editing create the kind of nail-biting tension that will run throughout the film’s taut 97-minute runtime.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 17, 2022

The first film in the series was so fresh, standing out in that year's box office. This film isn't better or cleverer, it's just a continuation of the things we loved in the first film, which isn't bad at all.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 15, 2022

What makes it a worthy follow-up is the same precise use and disuse of sound. The boundary between the screen and the audience disappears in the silence.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 8, 2022

An older and wiser sequel with thematic restraint.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 2, 2022

A Quiet Place Part 2 proves that there's still enough thrills in this concept to yell about.

Full Review | May 30, 2022

A Quiet Place Part II, like all sequels, battles to convince you that it was made for a reason other than the first one making a lot of money. It mostly succeeds, bringing the thrills and tension expected with the name, even if some depth is sacrificed.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 2, 2022

A QUIET PLACE PART II is a good and consistent sequel, but I would have hoped for a bit more innovation and brutality. It is exciting and emotional again, but its trick is already well known by now.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 27, 2022

This is a great horror movie that focuses on building dread through a sheer feeling of terror and suspense over grisly violence, blood, and gore.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Feb 18, 2022

It's an entertaining follow-up to the 2018 original.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 12, 2022

A Quiet Place Part II takes all the pieces needed to be a truly great horror sequel and ties them together with a flimsy and disappointing execution, that does the entire project a disservice.

Full Review | Feb 12, 2022

One of the miracles of the Quiet Place franchise is how Krasinski gets audiences to sit silent for 97 minutes. A Quiet Place Part II is an intense, hair-raising edge-of-your-seat thriller that wonderfully lures filmgoers back to the theaters.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 11, 2022

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A Quiet Place Part II is a little better than the first film, and a little worse

It’s a sweet family film with horrible murderous aliens

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A Quiet Place Part II is kind of like what you’d get if the alien hunter from the Predator franchise stopped by This Is Us for a few episodes. The film is a horror story with the heart of a family drama, and for the most part, it works very well. But just like real families, it’s pretty consistent in both its strengths and its flaws — in other words, it’s the perfect sequel for fans of the original movie, while also being not that bad at welcoming viewers who might have missed the first go-round.

Part II begins with an extended prequel set before the first film, depicting the arrival of the deadly, nigh-indestructible aliens that have wiped out much of the population by the time A Quiet Place begins. Writer-director John Krasinski reintroduces the Abbott family: parents Lee (Krasinski) and Evelyn (Emily Blunt), along with children Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Regan (Millicent Simmonds). As the family gathers to watch a Little League game, we’re also reminded that the Abbotts are unusually well-equipped to handle what’s coming: Lee is a survivalist type (as noted by the large hunting knife he uses to slice an orange), and the family all speaks ASL to communicate with Regan, who is deaf.

In addition to giving Part II the opportunity to bring back Lee, who died in A Quiet Place , the prologue also helps introduce viewers who haven’t seen the first movie to the rules of this particular apocalypse, and reminds returning fans who need a refresher. The sequence — set in the Abbotts’ small upstate New York town in the final moments before the world goes to hell — is a great bit of disaster filmmaking, a terrifying reintroduction to the sightless creatures that brutally hunt down humans by sound while rampaging through small-town America.

Afterward, A Quiet Place Part II picks up immediately after the first movie’s ending, with the Abbott survivors in their wrecked farmhouse, having successfully killed an alien creature for the first time. Figuring out the trick to fighting them gives the Abbotts a chance at survival as they’re forced to find a new home, but it’s far from enough to make them feel safe.

For one thing, they now have a baby to look after, one born during the first film’s incredibly stressful climax. Babies aren’t known for being quiet or understanding threats, and this one endangers the whole family. For another, the Abbotts have largely survived in seclusion, and don’t know what the world looks like now that society has collapsed. As they begin to look for a new refuge, they soon find out.

A Quiet Place was, according to Krasinski , about parenthood. With that in mind, its sequel is about parents letting go of children, and trusting them to fend for themselves. Before long, the Abbotts have to split up and go on separate adventures, and the children need to step up and face the monsters on their own. Regan in particular carries the bulk of the film’s dramatic weight, and a phenomenal performance from deaf actress Millicent Simmonds overcomes a script that veers into cloying territory in its portrayal of disability-as-superpower.

Mostly, the sequel takes the highs of the first movie a little higher, while its lows are about the same. A Quiet Place Part II continues to get a lot of mileage out of toying with horror’s deep relationship with sound, using wonderfully mixed audio to reorient the audience’s sense of peril toward everything aural, and using that threat to ratchet up the tension. Through sound, staging, and performance, scares are wrung out of silence, and the smallest bump can shock viewers with the terror of a gunshot. Furthermore, while thrills are the main draw, the movie’s cast does tremendous work with dramatic scenes communicated in ASL. The care taken in these more intimate scenes does a lot to smooth over the ways disability is factored into the genre conceit. Part II , like the film before it, runs the risk of being overbearing in building to a finale where a hearing aid saves the world, but it at least does the work of rooting that moment in Regan’s arc of independence.

A Quiet Place Part II often succumbs to a conservatism that holds it back. It’s worth highlighting that the Abbotts embody a white and traditional vision of family, and its paternalistic outlook almost completely ignores Evelyn, who has plenty to do, but no actual story. Krasinski wants to celebrate his deaf hero for her differences, but also burdens her with guilt over his character’s death, and makes her primary struggle the need to prove she can take care of people the way he could. None of this makes it a bad film — just a smaller one than it could be.

A Quiet Place Part II falters most in the ways it tries to go bigger than the original film, either thematically or in scope. The film is at its clumsiest as it reaches its climax. The Abbotts and their former neighbor Emmett (Cillian Murphy) split into three groups, and in a cross-cut finale, they each attempt to accomplish the impossible at the same time. It’s the sort of spectacle that’s effective enough the first time through, but might not play so well on repeat viewings. Yet ultimately, it’s forgivable, because A Quiet Place Part II isn’t really a horror movie so much as it’s an unusually stressful family film, with all of the requisite learning accompanied by horrific violence.

It’s hard to begrudge A Quiet Place Part II much, though. Clocking in at a brisk 97 minutes, it’s a lean-and-mean thriller with a lot of heart, even though it’s a bit thin. It’s the sort of sequel that feels like it was designed as a middle chapter, with its dangerous-road-trip structure that works to establish a new status quo for its characters. In the end, it plays its story a bit too safe: It does enough to set up another potentially engaging film, if Krasinski has another story to tell, but not enough to convince viewers that they’ll like it. For all that these movies take a unique interest in silence, they need to have a little more to say.

A Quiet Place Part II is now playing in theaters, and is expected to debut for streaming on Paramount Plus on July 12th.

[Review] ‘A Quiet Place Part II’ Makes for an Unexpected and Satisfying Continuation

A Quiet Place proved that even the most familiar of ideas could be transformed into gripping horror with the right voice at the helm. Writer, director, and star John Krasinski pared back the creature feature to its simplest suspense mechanics, channeling his inner Steven Spielberg and focusing instead on the intimate plight of a family struggling to exist amidst an apocalyptic invasion with serious emotional heft. He employed serious technical scare crafting and brilliant use of sound to perfect one tense piece of horror that audiences went crazy over. It was so well crafted that A Quiet Place  made for a taut, self-contained story strong enough to stand on its own; the Abbott family saga seemed firmly concluded, did they need a sequel? Fortunately, Krasinski continues to prove quite adept at brilliant genre storytelling, and  A Quiet Place Part II  builds upon the first film in surprising, intimate, and sophisticated ways.

Mirroring the opening sequence of the first film, where we first met the Abbott family in a dormant and abandoned pharmacy,  A Quiet Place Part II begins in that same pharmacy pre-invasion. We see Lee Abbott (Krasinski) interacting with the owners, picking up provisions for the little league baseball game where the rest of his family awaits. A happy, small-town weekend outing lasts peaceful for only a beat before large debris from space comes crashing through the atmosphere; an intense invasion has begun. Though not as shocking as the first film’s cold open, the symmetry of the setting is clever.

After this, the central narrative picks up right where the first film ended. The surviving Abbott family members have had their home destroyed, and Evelyn ( Emily Blunt ) must find a new shelter for her children Regan ( Millicent Simmonds ), Marcus ( Noah Jupe ), and her newborn baby. Even though they discovered a means of stopping the alien threat, killing the creatures remains challenging and the world as dangerous as ever. Venturing outside their farm comes with a whole new set of challenges that continues to leave their lives on the edge.

Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Emmett (Cillian Murphy) brave the unknown in A Quiet Place Part II.

Cillian Murphy is a significant new addition to the cast; his character Emmett a complicated mystery that unfurls slowly throughout the film. He’s shown briefly in the opening, but the events post-invasion have left him irrevocably altered. While Emmett factors prominently into the latest chapter of the Abbott saga, A Quiet Place Part II truly belongs to Regan. Her relationship with her father factored prominently into the first film’s narrative and character arcs, and his absence continues to shape her story. His ultimate sacrifice weighs heavily upon her as she struggles to forge her own identity and path forward. Simmonds is more than up to the task of carrying the load, both emotionally and physically. Her arc here is incredible, offering both heartfelt moments of heartbreak and soaring moments of triumph. She also handles action sequences with absolute ease, of which there are many.

Krasinski doesn’t break the mold here. He sticks closely to what worked in the first film, particularly in terms of scare crafting and wielding sound and silence like a well-oiled fear machine. It’s in his complete understanding of balance, of knowing exactly how much to show and how much to hold back that’s exemplary. That Krasinski is still so early in his directorial career makes this all the more impressive. With this sequel, he expands the world and mythology just enough to perpetuate wonder and allure, but still small enough to retain the earnest intimacy that carried the narrative of the previous film. It’s not an easy line to walk. Being that fans have had time to acclimate to this world, Krasinski’s consistent smart choices, especially in focusing on character work, keeps the momentum going forward even when some of the shiny novelty has diminished.

Overall,  A Quiet Place Part II makes for an excellent continuation that offers the thrills and feels audiences fell for previously. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, nor does it shake up the formula at all. Meaning if you weren’t a fan of the first film, this sequel likely won’t win you over. It does, however, offer surprises in terms of narrative; the marketing kept things pretty close to the chest and Krasinski takes the Abbott family to some unexpected places in this chapter.  There are plenty of well-earned scares, and some that don’t pack as strong a punch as they once did. Murphy is a fantastic addition, but this is above all Simmonds’ show, and she nails it. A Quiet Place Part II  makes for a satisfying, worthwhile sequel. Here’s to hoping Krasinski continues to explore the genre space.

Regan (Millicent Simmonds), left, and Evelyn (Emily Blunt) brave the unknown in “A Quiet Place Part II.”

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

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We learned earlier this week that “Hannibal” creator Bryan Fuller is no longer the showrunner of A24 and Peacock’s Friday the 13th TV series “ Crystal Lake ,” with A24 choosing to “go a different way with the material.” What does that mean? It means A24 is still planning on bringing a Friday the 13th series to life, but the overall vision will likely change.

Kevin Williamson  ( Scream, Sick ) had been on board to write an episode of the “Crystal Lake” series, and Williamson took to Twitter today to tease some of those original plans.

Williamson writes, “Bummin’ hard, so sorry I won’t be a part of what would have been an epic Bryan Fuller show. Your pilot was so beautifully realized. A gorgeous portrait of a mother unraveling in her grief. Not to mention bloody horrific!”

He adds, “I was so looking forward to our hour long chase episode! “

Kevin Williamson is of course known for writing incredible slasher movie chase sequences, including the ones seen in the original Scream and Scream 2 , as well as I Know What You Did Last Summer and last year’s Sick . It’s hard not to imagine how cool an hour-long Friday the 13th chase episode could be in Williamson’s hands, but alas, it’s not happening anymore.

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The director of Cube , Splice and several episodes of “Hannibal,” Vincenzo Natali also took to Twitter this weekend to give us a taste of the “Crystal Lake” series we’ll never see.

Natali tweets, “ I have read the first two episodes. Bryan Fuller’s   Crystal Lake was well on its way to becoming another Hannibal -level reinvention that was simultaneously beautiful, sad, poetic, funny and horrifying. I mourn its passing .”

A24 and Peacock are now searching for a new showrunner for the series. Stay tuned.

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Bummin’ hard, so sorry I won’t be a part of what would have been an epic Bryan Fuller show. Your pilot was so beautifully realized. A gorgeous portait of a mother unraveling in her grief. Not to mention bloody horrific! I was so looking forward to our hour long chase episode! — Kevin Williamson (@kevwilliamson) May 11, 2024

I have read the first two episodes. @BryanFuller ’s Crystal Lake was well on its way to becoming another Hannibal-level reinvention that was simultaneously beautiful, sad, poetic, funny and horrifying. I mourn its passing. https://t.co/ob0kF4MQHM — Vincenzo Natali (@Vincenzo_Natali) May 11, 2024

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‘A Quiet Place Part II’ review: a gripping horror sequel that’s worth shouting about

You'll gasp, scream and jump out of your skin – but remember to keep the noise down

A bout 15 minutes into A Quiet Place Part II , there is an intertitle: “Day 474”. It hits a little harder than originally intended. The sequel to John Krasinski’s brilliantly clever 2018 horror was supposed to come out in March 2020, but coronavirus had other plans. While it’s in no way about the current pandemic, there’s a lot about it that plays differently now. While we may not have dealt with 18 months of alien invasion, the sense of life turned upside down and normality feeling like a foreign land resonates. There’s something quite cathartic about watching a horror in which people learn to beat the seemingly unstoppable enemy. Also, it provides an opportunity to have a really good scream.

In the first film, aliens had come to Earth with no apparent intention other than to kill anyone they found. Completely blind, these extraterrestrial creatures instead track people by sound, meaning anyone who wants to survive has to live in almost total silence. Krasinski used this very cinematic conceit to create a horror in which very few lines are spoken and the film’s soundtrack is largely the viewer’s racing heart and gasping breath. It was superb. A real ‘must see it in the cinema’ experience.

This follow-up doesn’t have the novelty of that conceit to rely on, but Krasinski is a smart director. He doesn’t try to retread the same tiptoed footsteps. He has new ideas. It’s not as thrillingly original as the first film, but it’s still significantly better than most horror sequels and full of beautiful touches.

The film begins with a flashback to the day the aliens arrived, which serves as both a refresher on the story so far and an excuse for Krasinski to show off his action chops, with the beasties running rampage through a screaming town and a heart-in-mouth car chase. Then we pick up right where the last film ended, with Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) giving her everything to protect her children, Regan (Millicent Simmons), Marcus ( Noah Jupe ) and a brand new, unnamed baby whose screams repeatedly threatened to bring monsters a-runnin’.

Seeking safety after the destruction of their home, the family stumble across an old family friend, Emmett (Cillian Murphy), who has had an even worse apocalypse than the Abbotts and is reluctant to attach himself to anyone new. When a horrible accident befalls one of them, Evelyn, Marcus and Regan are split up, all with their own missions to protect the family, and with killer monsters between them and reunion.

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Krasinski’s decision to split his three leads is both his best idea and his biggest handicap. There is a section in the middle of the film where the tension slackens, as the three make their own quiet progress, but once Krasinski tightens it up, the cutting between the three stories triples the anxiety. We know things can’t work out well for all three, and Krasinski, clearly enjoying the torture, keeps us constantly guessing.

As both writer and director, he has tremendous fun with his set pieces, all of which are fiendishly devised. He plays with sequences that are so quiet you could hear a mouse fart and others that are thunderous with noise, luring the aliens rather than simply avoiding them. And he remains excellent at punctuating the horror with really moving scenes of family love. With Blunt in a rather reduced role, Krasinski puts the emotional heavy-lifting on Simmons and Jupe. They are more than up to the task.Their performances and the story of the family learning to go on without dad may well have you weeping, when you’re not simply whimpering in fear.

Krasinski has promised that a third film is coming to close out the story and, given the quality of the first two, it’s extremely welcome. He’s shown himself to be a director worth shouting about, but only once you’ve left the silence of the cinema.

• Director: John Krasinski
• Starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds
• Release date: June 3 (in UK cinemas)
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A Quiet Place: Day One

Experience the day the world went quiet. Experience the day the world went quiet. Experience the day the world went quiet.

• Michael Sarnoski
• John Krasinski
• Bryan Woods
• Djimon Hounsou
• Joseph Quinn

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• Trivia Paramount has stated that this not a continuation of Part II, but more of a spin-off.
• Connections Referenced in Diminishing Returns Diminisodes: A Quiet Place Part II (2021)

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• When will A Quiet Place: Day One be released? Powered by Alexa
• June 28, 2024 (United States)
• United States
• A Quiet Place Part III
• London, England, UK (Location)
• Paramount Pictures
• Platinum Dunes
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• Runtime 1 hour 40 minutes
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'A Quiet Place: Day One': Release Date, Plot, Cast, and Everything We Know So Far

It's finally time to find out how the world fell into hair-raising silence.

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Does 'a quiet place: day one' have a release date, where will 'a quiet place: day one' stream, is there a trailer for 'a quiet place: day one', what's the plot of 'a quiet place: day one', who's in the cast of 'a quiet place: day one', who's making 'a quiet place: day one'.

As any dedicated, detail-driven fan of the blockbuster franchise knows, the first Quiet Place film started with a black screen and the words "DAY 89'"in stark, clinical white as instruments groaned discordantly in the background. This, as far as we knew, was the beginning of everything; at least where the tip-toeing Abbott family was concerned. As viewers, we were just as stranded from the rest of civilization as the family themselves, awash with desolate landscapes and convenience stores ransacked to bare and brittle bones. That really did help us feel as if we were right there with them, barely clinging to survival by the skin of our teeth. But as great as that is as a narrative device, many have wondered what happened in the days that came before. How did the population deplete so drastically? What happened to everyone else that had to face these sightless, bloodthirsty aliens with ears attuned to the slightest snap of a twig? Luckily for us, we won't have to sit in the dark for much longer. Salvation, a light switch illuminating what was once a dark room; A Quiet Place: Day One is in the works to answer all the questions that keep us up at night.

While this prequel film's sky may not glitter with the franchise's usual stars it by no means will disappoint, if recent casting announcements are anything to go by. In the first two Quiet Place films, John Krasinski , Emily Blunt , Noah Jupe , and Millicent Simmonds endeared audiences nationwide with their performances as a tight-knit, admirably resilient family. Now with a mostly new cast taking the lead, this highly anticipated spin-off could very well (dare I say it?) shape up to be the best installment yet.

Editor's Note: This piece was updated on May 9, 2024.

A Quiet Place: Day One

Experience the day the world went quiet.

Originally set for a March 31, 2023, release, the post-apocalyptic feature underwent three delays in schedule; pushed first to September 22, 2023, then again to March 8, 2024, and finally, it was scheduled for a June 28, 2024, release . The movie will be opening opposite Kevin Costner 's western epic Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 .

While all these delays have been disappointing to those of us eagerly awaiting the prequel, it only seems inevitable that this movie will be worth the wait.

A Quiet Place: Day One will initially enjoy an exclusive theatrical release. However, once that window concludes, the horror prequel will be made available to stream on the Paramount+ service , alongside the previous two entries in the popular franchise. The movie will also be made available to stream on Amazon's Prime Video service at some point in the latter half of 2024, where it will join other titles from Paramount Pictures such as Bob Marley: One Love and Mean Girls .

The official trailer for A Quiet Place: Day One was released by Paramount Pictures on February 7, 2024, ahead of a Super Bowl spot for the film that will air on February 11, 2024.

The second trailer for A Quiet Place: Day One was released by Paramount Pictures on May 9, 2024.

The very brief official synopsis for A Quiet Place: Day One , simply reads:

The first trailer reveals that A Quiet Place: Day One , will largely be set in the city streets of Brooklyn, New York, a change in pace from the first two films, which were set in much more remote and quiet areas. As previously stated, while the film is the third installment of the franchise, it will not be a direct sequel to the two that came before it. Instead, Day One will be a spin-off prequel navigating the utter pandemonium of society's initial collapse.

Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o stars in the prequel as a character named Sam. While her role as Patsey in 12 Years A Slave won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, her lead role in Jordan Peele 's critically lauded Us proved that she can handle genre fare just as well. Nyong'o's other credits include playing Nakia in Black Panther and its sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , voicing and performing motion capture for Maz Kanata in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, the horror-comedy Little Monsters, and the chess drama Queen of Katwe .

Joseph Quinn will play the male lead in A Quiet Place: Day One , a man named Eric. Quinn initially got his start with a small role in an episode of Game of Thrones as well as a supporting role in the J.J. Abrams-produced action-horror movie Overlord . It wasn't until 2022 that he broke out in a major way with his role as Eddie Munson in Stranger Things Season 4. A Quiet Place: Day One will mark his first acting role since his break-out performance, and will be quickly followed by roles in Ridley Scott 's Gladiator 2 and Matt Shakman 's Fantastic Four reboot as the Human Torch .

While Nyong'o and Quinn will be playing the film's leads, the supporting cast around them is also strong. Alex Wolff ( Hereditary ) will play an undisclosed role in the prequel, after having previously collaborated with director Michael Sarnoski in the 2021 drama Pig . Denis O'Hare ( American Horror Story ) will also be a part of the cast, but details about his character have not yet been revealed. Academy Award nominee Djimon Hounsou will be the sole returning cast member for the prequel, after his brief but memorable role as the Man on the Island in A Quiet Place Part II .

n November 2020, Paramount announced that Jeff Nichols was set to write and direct the prequel based on John Krasinski's idea, but in October 2021 the news hit the press that he would be amicably departing from the film , citing creative differences and shifting his focus to other projects. The search for a replacement began immediately and, a few months later, Michael Sarnoski was attached to the project.

As well as directing the flick, Sarnoski will also be conducting script rewrites. Working alongside him as producers are John Krasinski, Michael Bay , Andrew Form , and Brad Fuller . The film is produced by Platinum Dunes in partnership with Paramount Pictures and Krasinski's Sunday Night Productions. Allyson Seeger is also credited as an executive producer on the project. While the process of this project's production hasn't necessarily been smooth sailing, Sarnoski is a highly in-demand name after his 2021 directorial debut Pig earned him incredible critical acclaim, and therefore a more than worthy talent to helm the ship. In fact, his attachment to the project only bodes to intrigue us more. With such a powerhouse team driving the horror, it reads like the perfect recipe for upcoming cinematic gold.

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‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ Trailer #2 – More Aliens, More Terror, and a Cat

The second official trailer for A Quiet Place: Day One shows more of the invasion’s beginnings. It also reveals that Lupita Nyong’o is ready to protect her cat at all costs, which confirms she’s a good person who we’ll be rooting for.

The cast of the prequel also includes Stranger Things ‘ Joseph Quinn, Old ‘s Alex Wolff, and two-time Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou ( In America , Blood Diamond ).

Paramount’s super short synopsis reads: “Experience the day the world went quiet.” Michael Sarnoski takes over as director, marking the first film of the franchise that doesn’t have John Krasinski at the helm. Sarnoski wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Krasinski and Sarnoski.

Krasinski, Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller serve as producers. Executive producers include Allyson Seeger and Vicki Dee Rock.

The original A Quiet Place starring married actors Krasinski and Emily Blunt opened in theaters on April 6, 2018. The sequel, A Quiet Place Part II , with Oppenheimer ‘s on screen couple Blunt and Cillian Murphy followed on May 28, 2021. Paramount Pictures will release the prequel in theaters, Dolby Cinema, and IMAX on June 28, 2024.

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