A Quiet Place Part II review: John Krasinski delivers a monster-filled thrill ride

This review contains spoilers for 2018’s A Quiet Place. 

Over a year after it was initially scheduled to premiere, John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place Part II is finally here. One of the first major blockbusters to hit theatres since the start of the pandemic, the sequel to 2018’s wildly successful horror entry isn’t necessarily the pure escapism Krasinski hoped it would be. This is a film that directly manifests our fears and trauma of the grueling pandemic within its post-apocalyptic setting, which may actually work in its favour by adding another element of unease. While Krasinski ups the tension and delivers some incredible action set pieces this time around, ultimately this sequel feels very much like the middle chapter of a trilogy, a disservice to what is otherwise a highly entertaining thrill ride.

Part of what made A Quiet Place so successful was its relatively simple concept — there are extremely dangerous creatures on the loose throughout the country that are highly sensitive to sound. In order to survive their constant patrols and avoid being torn to pieces, the handful of survivors have to keep all sound to a bare minimum. In what seemed like a huge leap at the time, John Krasinski — best known as Jim from The Office — co-starred and directed the film. While the initial film ended on a note of emotional catharsis with Krasinski’s Lee Abbott sacrificing himself to the creatures in order to save his family, its smash success effectively ensured there would be a sequel down the road.

After a remarkable opening prologue that explores the arrival of the creatures (truly one of the best horror opening sequences in years), we rejoin the Abbott family as they are in the process of relocating from their shelter/bunker. Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) not only has her two young children to worry about (including her deaf daughter Reagan, played by an incredibly compelling Millicent Simmonds) but also a newborn baby that she soundlessly birthed in the first film.

With her new baby festooned inside a soundproof box with an oxygen tank to prevent its cries from drawing out the creatures, the Abbott’s set foot into the outside world in search of other survivors to pair up with. Walking barefoot and at an incremental pace to avoid making any noise, they eventually come across an abandoned steel meet and meet Emmett (Cillian Murphy), a grizzled and unwelcoming loner who was friends with Lee Abbott before society collapsed.

Inside Emmett’s bunker, Reagan stumbles upon a mysterious radio transmission that she is convinced contains a clue from other survivors. Slipping out on her own, she heads out in search of the origin of the signal while Evelyn convinces an apprehensive Emmett to track her down before she is discovered by the ever-present creatures roaming the landscape.

Unfolding like a live-action version of the smash PlayStation game The Last of Us (which is getting its own HBO adaptation soon because we love the apocalypse that much), Reagan and Emmett embark on a dangerous mission in search of the signal. Their journey brings them into contact with the terrifying creatures, and in a beat reminiscent of Lost, groups of very different human survivors.

Krasinski and editor Michael P. Shawver do an incredible job of ratcheting up the tension as they cut between Reagan and Emmett’s journey and Evelyne’s stand-off at the steel mill as she battles the encroaching creatures. Even if many of the action set-ups are familiar from the first entry, they provide such a visceral thrill that it hardly matters — no one getting off a rollercoaster complains that they’ve been through a loop before.

A Quiet Place Part II takes what fans loved about the first film and expands the world just enough to justify the continuation of the franchise. The set pieces are more elaborate, but Krasinski never loses sight of the central characters anchoring this terrifying world. Reagan, in particular, shines this time around and essentially becomes a full-on action star as the film progresses.

If the film strikes one sour note, it’s in the third act which suddenly just … ends. Clearly set up as the middle part of a trilogy, Krasinski simply lets the credits roll without any sense of closure or wrapping up the film’s various plot lines. It’s a technique we’re used to from TV cliff-hangers but feels a tad manipulative for what is surely many audience’s first movie back in theaters in over a year.

Despite a reliance on some familiar beats and a rushed finale, A Quiet Place Part II clearly positions Krasinski as a blockbuster writer-director with a knack for crafting crowd-pleasing blockbusters. If you feel safe going to a theatre, this is a film best experienced on the big screen with a rapt (and hopefully, quiet!) crowd. It feels great to be back again.

A Quiet Place Part II is in theatres now.