Overview
Following the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.
Starting off on day one of the creatures arrival gives us some brief backstory, but still keeping some mystery, and also allows us to appreciate John Krasinski once more as Lee, and especially see more moments of his bonding with Regan, his deaf daughter. It also allows is to be briefly introduced to friends and neighbours – very briefly, but enough to get a feeling for their characters – at a kids baseball game when the ‘event’ happens. Then we get a stunning sequence of initial attack as the family try to find sanctuary….and then we flip to the moment at the end of the previous film, and the film picks up directly from there as Evelyn (Blunt) sets off with her family to find help and a new home for them.
Whilst the film lacks that impact that part 1 had, it certainly makes sure that it deserves to exist, and doesn’t feel like a tacked on, unnecessary sequel. There is so much about this world setting that we don’t know from the first – how are others surviving, how widespread is it – that expanding out to allow us to see this new world lets the film breathe a little, and in exploring it we see some horrific sights, but also some signs of hope for mankind. But, as with the first, the true beauty of this film is in the presentation – the sound mix dropping noise to a whisper level, making you aware of your own breathing – the shunt to totally deafness to present how Regan absorbs the world around her – making you realise that as someone who can’t hear the clicking of the creatures, or even what sounds she makes, she lives in almost constant fear – something that would have been hit even harder at the loss of her father in the previous film when he sacrificed himself for her. This film is her journey as she seeks to prove that she can be a hero too, and she can step up to protect her mother and brother.
It’s a marvellous addition to the story, and Krasinski uses some dynamic scenes to amplify moments, but knows well when to slow things down and build tension. Cinematography from Polly Morgan captures the land the family journey through, and also the oppressive interiors they hide in. The film uses a few jump scare moments that definitely work (I was fully aware of Lee responding to a few of them next to me) – and they feel natural in the use. Unlike, say Spiral which I mentioned last week used jump scares, Quiet Place’s ones come because we are plunged into silence as part of the narrative, so when a noise pierces that silence it is alerting – we jump because the characters jump. Spiral made us jump by just setting off fireworks or crashing noises in the absence of any tension.
By the end of Quiet Place 2 I found myself wanting more, and I had questions about more of the world that I’d love them to explore. A definite success of a sequel.