[6]
Director/co-writer/actor John Krasinski serves up another helping of his intimate and suspenseful alien apocalypse story. The sequel begins with a flashback sequence of the day the aliens came to earth and began decimating the world’s population. Krasinski appears in this flashback sequence only, as he and his deaf daughter (Millicent Simmonds) try to flee the invasion on the streets of their small town.
But after a taste of how this franchise began, A Quiet Place Part II focuses on the aftermath of the first film. Emily Blunt stars as the now-single mother of three — Simmonds, her brother (Noah Jupe), and an infant. The infant is kept in a sound-proof box with an oxygen mask for fear any sudden cries will attract the abnormally sound-sensitive monsters. The family sees fires burning in the distance and travels to see who else has survived over a year of the alien apocalypse. It turns out to be Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later), a widower who’s at first reluctant to lend any aid. But when Simmonds leaves the group on her own to find a radio station where she believes other survivors are living, Blunt persuades Murphy to retrieve her. Meanwhile, Blunt takes a trip into town for more oxygen for the baby.
The sequel’s third act is an exercise in intercutting suspense. While Murphy and Simmonds battle both the creatures and degenerate survivors on their way to the radio station, Blunt is attacked on her return to Jupe and the baby, who are also under attack, trapped inside an industrial, iron enclosure, running out of air.
I’m not sure we really need a sequel to A Quiet Place. A full-blown prequel might have been exciting, especially since the opening flashback is probably the best part here. The characters make a few head-scratching choices that endanger their own lives, and the film ends in an open-ended, sequel-baiting fashion. As horror sequels go, however, you could do far worse. The acting from all the actors is surprisingly compelling, and there are enough suspense set-pieces to make Part II worth a watch.
With Djimon Hounsou and Scoot McNairy.