The monsters are still with us. Humans still must remain deathly quiet or else the marauding monsters will unleash a gruesome demise on anyone who makes a sound. The world of A Quiet Place Part II continues the story of A Quiet Place. The ending of A Quiet Place established the Abbott family’s resolve to battle the monsters and enhance their prospects for survival.
Evelyn’s deaf daughter Regan discovered a weakness in the creature’s lethal nature. Her cochlea implant provided part of the solution to disable the creatures. Although the alien’s ability to track and decimate human prey by using ultra sensitive hearing is their strength, that very enhanced hearing is a vulnerability that can be exploited by electronically generated high-pitched piercing machine sounds. Amplifiers enhance the monsters ear-shattering pain.
But that’s only a vulnerability. The beasts are lightning fast and the availability of electronic amplification and the means of powering the equipment is limited in a world decimated by monsters.
Evelyn, Regan, Marcus and new-born baby Abbott venture from the relative safety of their secure home into the wider world, a world beyond the cushioned sounds of their footsteps on the sand-pillow they laid around their home.
Why would they move? The straightforward, simple reason is their house burned and their subterranean refuge was flooded. They have no choice. The wider world is populated not only by the alien beings but the human monsters that lurk in spaces where they can both protect themselves and prey on other humans.
There is one human who is reluctant to help the Abbott family, even though he can see their vulnerability, and watches as they are pursued by the monsters. Emmett is known to the Abbotts. Therein lies one of the oddities of the movie. There’s a pre-title sequence whose sole purpose is to identify and establish Emmett for A Quiet Place Part II. It is a clumsy and clunky way to set up a character rather than integrate his backstory into the narrative of A Quiet Place Part II.
The film is basically a series of energetic extended sequences of adrenaline action and furious alien attacks initiated by noises—bottles that clank as an alarm, bear traps that shatter human limbs and make them scream in pain, and creaky, rusted metal machinery. It’s similar to the exposed nail in the staircase I mentioned in A Quite Place as an obvious device to launch a set piece from the first movie.
The action sequences are effective in crosscutting between the furious actions and the quieter moments of dread and suspense. As with the first movie, A Quiet Place Part II transcends the monster story to highlight characters’ growth and strength in a time of danger and threat. Teenagers Regan and Marcus shift from helpless victims to empowered, brave and confident humans. They still exhibit weaknesses and frailties as most humans do.
More than the first film, A Quiet Place Part II is a monster-charged movie. The creatures are persistent as well as deadly. The original slogan for the Alien film franchise states, “In space no-one can hear you scream.” In A Quiet Place Part II, it’s a case of, “On Earth everyone can hear you scream.” The scream you hear will be your own.
Building on Regan’s discovery of the monsters vulnerability of high-pitched sounds to their super sensitive hearing, A Quiet Place Part II establishes that the monsters are vulnerable to another limitation. No spoiler alerts. You’ll discover this other vulnerability when you see the movie.
It gives the humans a sense that humanity will survive this plague and perhaps slowly learn to counteract the monsters susceptibility and their attempts to eradicate human existence on planet Earth.
Both movies, A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II, are episodic in nature. The end of A Quiet Place Part II mimics the end of the first film and hints that a third instalment of A Quiet Place is a possibility. Whether that's desirable is another question. If there is a third instalment, it might be better to introduce A Quiet Place as an ongoing television series, similar to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008), the extension TV series based on The Terminator movies. I think it’s enough to finish A Quiet Place Part II. But box office receipts are a powerful enticement into making A Quiet Place a movie franchise. Let’s hope not, because it’s enough to leave alone the scare fest that is A Quiet Place Part II.
A Quiet Place Part II Official Trailer
A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
Screening in cinemas now.
A Quiet Place (Released 2018)
Available to watch on AppleTV+ and Prime Video
READ Eclectic Stefan's film review: