ReviewA Quiet Place Part II movie review: John Krasinski’s monster horror sequel is well worth the wait

Cillian Murphy joins Emily Blunt in trying to keep her family alive in this continuation of a story of savage alien creatures that can detect the tiniest noise

Krasinski’s set-piece staging is again absorbing and gripping, while hearing-impaired actress Millicent Simmonds puts in another star performance

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Emily Blunt (left) and Noah Jupe in a scene from A Quiet Place Part II (category: TBC), directed by John Krasinski and co-starring Cillian Murphy.

Published: 1:15pm, 19 May 2021Updated: 2:06pm, 19 May 2021

4/5 stars

A Quiet Place Part II, the follow-up to actor-director John Krasinski’s innovative 2018 horror hit, is finally here, over a year after the pandemic curtailed its release. Continuing this story of an alien invasion of savage creatures that detect the tiniest noise, it expands the mythology of the story, teasingly offering a glimpse of the wider world that’s been decimated by the attack.

The opening scene rewinds to Day 1 of this extraterrestrial arrival, which means we get to see Lee Abbott (Krasinski) and wife Evelyn (Krasinski’s real-life spouse, Emily Blunt), and their children, before their lives were changed forever. It’s a stunningly orchestrated scene, that goes from a harmonious baseball game to absolute carnage in the blink of an eye.

When it shifts back to the present, picking up just where the previous film left off, the Abbotts’ farm is on fire and Evelyn must cope without Lee, who sacrificed his life to save their kids: resourceful deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), her brother Marcus (Noah Jupe) and their newborn. Now at least they come armed with the knowledge that audio feedback sends these horrifying spindly creatures apoplectic.

Seeking safety, they stumble towards a dilapidated warehouse, only for Marcus to get his leg ensnared in a bear trap. Reminiscent of the moment in the original where Evelyn treads on a nail – neatly referenced in an early visual – it’s a heart-pounding scene, the first of many, as his screams bring the aliens a-running.