A Quiet Place Part II

I think it was whilst espousing the virtues of The Purge series that the theory arose that a solid ‘idea’ for a horror concept is generally enough. ‘All crime is legal for one night’ - great idea. ‘Horror rooted in silence because of monsters who can hear but not see’ - great idea.

And so it is that A Quiet Place Part II triumphs despite so obviously being the ‘middle chapter’ of a trilogy (or more.) A concept like this one just works as a cinematic experience.

After a bravura opening depicting ‘day 1’ of this monster-ocalypse, we pick up at the exact moment the first film ended with Emily Blunt’s Evelyn Abbott and her two remaining children (plus new-born baby) leaving the safety of their homestead in search of more survivors.

The plot’s lean, probably too lean considering the brisk run time and the dropping of a few story threads, but it is efficient and devises new ways to separate our core characters and ramp up the danger despite the ‘reveal’ of the alien’s appearance being dropped in the first movie.

The need for complete silence, and the fact that inanimate objects have a horrible habit of making so much darn noise, keeps the tension levels at maximum pretty much throughout with a nice unpredictability factor and a good balance of moments where you curse a character for their stupid actions whilst knowing that you’d likely do the same in their shoes.

The aforementioned run time is a blessing and a curse. Whilst it serves to offer a tight, rollercoaster cinema ride the ending is abrupt and, whilst just about self-contained, still drops more than a hint that there’s more to come. It drops the film’s potential for a high star rating purely because of this.

Having said that though, it’s another sensational bit of filmmaking from John Krasinski with some stunning long shots, great sound design and hugely efficient scares.

A cracking cinematic rollercoaster.

3 stars ***