3364. A Quiet Place Part II (2021)

Starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds

Director: John Krasinski

Running Time: 97 mins

A Quiet Place Part II is an American film and the sequel to A Quiet Place. Following their escape from the creatures, the remaining members of the family take shelter alongside an old friend, with whom they could find a way to escape to safety.

Much like the first film, A Quiet Place Part II uses what many may have at first seen as a gimmick to incredible effect. Though often similar to its predecessor, this sequel builds on the world established last time out, while still impressing with genuinely scary thrills, captivating emotional depth and brilliantly original horror throughout.

On the surface of things, the premise for A Quiet Place Part II is almost identical to A Quiet Place. The creatures are lurking around, and the family must stay quiet to survive. Of course, there’s a whole lot more to this film than just that, and this sequel does a brilliant job at showing why its story deserves to be told.

If you’re looking for good horror thrills, then A Quiet Place Part II has them in bucketloads. It’s just as exciting as the first film, and, while certainly a little louder, it’s also brilliantly eerie and unsettling, particularly in the latter stages where things begin to take a strikingly unexpected turn.

Director John Krasinski’s eye for horror is once again outstanding, crafting genuinely terrifying thrills alongside brilliant tension that makes the film’s jump scares just as effective as its overbearing sense of dread. A Quiet Place Part II is by no means a light-hearted horror, but its intensity also makes it an exhilarating watch.

Complete with yet another stellar lead turn from Emily Blunt, a welcome addition in the form of Cillian Murphy, and even stronger performances from young leads Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, this sequel counts on its star performers at their quietest to deliver genuinely captivating drama from beginning to end.

There is an argument to say that A Quiet Place Part II isn’t quite as intimate as the first film, with the lack of the nuclear family dynamic taking away from the touching emotional depth of its predecessor. However, the drama is full of regret and remorse, and the movie certainly doesn’t hold back as it fleshes out Cillian Murphy’s character, bringing him into the main characters’ dynamic without acting solely as a replacement for Krasinski from last time.

Running for a short but sharp 97 minutes and never letting up for a moment, A Quiet Place Part II will have you hooked from the very first moment until the very, very, very last. In fact, the action and excitement continues so close to the finish of the film that I felt it ended almost too abruptly, albeit with a nice potential set-up for a third film should that come around the corner.

Overall, I loved A Quiet Place Part II. Genuinely exciting, genuinely scary and genuinely captivating throughout, the film is just like its predecessor as an example of horror done right. Bolstered by strong performances and yet more brilliant direction from John Krasinski, it’s an exhilarating watch, and that’s why I’m giving it an 8.0.