A Quiet Place Part II is not the best sequel ever made, but it's good enough

In 2018, silence meant survival in the film A Quiet Place. In that first installment, Director John Krasinski (The Office) created a world where sound, made in the open, summoned blind creatures of unknown origin but with a certain purpose, and that purpose was to kill whatever created the vibration tickling their acute alien (we presume) hearing. Krasinski used that artifice to generate a fresh source of high anxiety for the viewer, and it worked… it worked really well. For A Quiet Place Part II, Krasinski told us he was bringing more of the same and also promised to answer the questions left by the first including the origin of the invading monster horde. The most important question to be answered, however, was whether the sequel would grab its audience like the first did... in other words, how long would the quiet be interesting? 

A Quiet Place Part II opens with day zero of its version of the apocalypse during which we are harshly reminded of what the Abbott family and their small town community are up against—and that would be giant , super-fast, insect-like creatures appearing from seemingly nowhere and everywhere to wreak havoc on anything (but humans mainly) that so much as sneezes. It is implied in this opening that the monster mayhem is wide spread… that is, the human race might be in trouble. Krasinski moves quickly, however, away from that bit of world-scope context and back to the very local story of what is left of the Abbot family versus the sightless killers. If you saw the first film, you will recall that Krasinski’s character, the family’s father, did not make it, having sacrificed himself to save his family. Evelyn, the mother (Emily Blunt), remains now in Part II, guarding over a hyper-anxious son Marcus, his deaf sister Regan, and an infant baby. Their home base has been destroyed and they must venture out to find a new safe place. Carefully observed and charted signs indicate that there are other survivors near; but are they friend or foe in this new, every-person-for-themselves world?  

Although the intrigue of the premise may be reduced this time around (we're familiar with these things' modus operandi from the first film), a Quiet Place Part II is still provocative... at least most of the time.  With the family’s patriarch gone, Krasinski smartly moves the story’s focus onto daughter Regan played by Utahn (and Mueller Park Jr. High School alum) Millicent Simmonds. The film is at its best when it is switching the viewer from the perspective of a hearing person to the silence of Regan’s world. This is especially effective during alien attacks, but Simmonds steals most of the non-action scenes as well as she becomes the family’s best bet for survival. QP2 is a bit less crisp in its second half, however, as it settles into a more worn alien invasion tale—humans versus a foe that appears invincible but has a chink in its armor.  Sci-fi and monster thrillers from War of the Worlds to Signs have excelled in this box but it comes off as a bit boiler plate in Part II.  

QP2 is slightly less fresh than its parent but still worth a big-screen view.  Krasinski breaks his promise though—the sequel answers very few of the questions spawned in the first film. Which means you can look forward to a third installment. A Quiet Place Part 2 gets 7 out of 10.