✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Cinema

A Quiet Place Part II review ★★★★★

03 Jun 21 – 03 Jun 22, IN CINEMAS

Emily Blunt, Noah Jupe, Millicent Simmonds and Cillian Murphy star in this incredible sequel to John Krasinski's sound-sensitive horror film A Quiet Place

By Euan Franklin on 28/5/2021

Emily Blunt and Noah Jupe in A Quiet Place Part II (Photo: Getty/Paramount Pictures/Jonny Cournoyer)
Emily Blunt and Noah Jupe in A Quiet Place Part II (Photo: Getty/Paramount Pictures/Jonny Cournoyer)
A Quiet Place Part II review 4 A Quiet Place Part II review Euan Franklin
The loudest issue with 2018's A Quiet Place, directed and co-written by The Office star John Krasinski, was its lack of scope. Despite the scattered presence of big and blind alien-monsters with hyper-sensitive hearing, the central family drama took precedence. It rarely reached beyond their silent and safe(ish) haven. The character dynamics often burst with excellent emotional intensity, but the fear factor was surprisingly low until the final act.


Krasinski rectifies this in his much superior Part II, crafting an action-horror movie experience that’s bigger, bolder, and scarier than its predecessor. It makes the lauded Part I look like a scene-setting prologue.


Part II brings the world front-and-centre while enigmatically avoiding the origins of the alien apocalypse. You start at Day 1 of the invasion. The ill-fated father, Lee Abbott (Krasinski), is alive at this point and attends a kids' baseball game. An idyllic start.


Then, naturally, that equilibrium turns to bloody mayhem in one of this year’s most frightening and thrilling openings. Despite being in a familiar environment, Krasinski (taking sole credit as writer and director) proficiently sets up an expanded landscape with new and unexpected levels of terror.



Cillian Murphy plays the rugged and traumatised Emmett. Photo: Getty/Paramount Pictures/Jonny Cournoyer

Moving forward to Day 474, the remaining Abbott family – the resourceful mother Evelyn (Emily Blunt), the anxious son Marcus (Noah Jupe), the independent hearing-impaired daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and a newborn son – abandon their former quiet place for another. It’s a dilapidated trainyard, populated only by Emmett (a rugged and traumatised Cillian Murphy) who's an old friend of Evelyn’s.


Whereas the Abbots know little of other survivors, who’ve found their own quiet places, Emmett knows of them too well. From what he says, the country has descended into tribal systems; revealing the primal darkness of humanity (classic!). But that doesn’t stop Regan’s forward-thinking curiosity. Armed with a sound device that weakens the monsters, she ventures out on her own to investigate these other groups of people.


That silent air of mystery seeps into these more adventurous scenes. Long stretches of hush inevitably collapse into violent, screeching pandaemonium. With Regan’s promotion to a more central character, the suspense is heightened by the inability to hear the monster that’s creeping up behind her.


Regan’s played by Deaf actress Millicent Simmonds, who crafts a genuine and exciting presence on screen. In a culture where disabled main characters are rare and their portrayals by disabled actors are even rarer, Simmonds' absorbing performance is evidence to the industry that these steps aren’t impossible to facilitate.



Millicent Simmonds plays the Abbott daughter, Regan (Photo: Getty/Paramount Pictures/Jonny Cournoyer)

The film bears some resemblance to the poignant video-game series The Last of Us, which is also set in a post-apocalyptic America. Emmett is tasked with looking for Regan and, despite the hostile introductions, they begin to understand each other. At one point, you see his frustration when trying to talk to her, but then he learns to enunciate and their trust grows from there. It's a fascinating, heart-warming, and beautifully written scene


Krasinski rushes a bit as new survivors are discovered. The interactions are more like meet-and-greets; little pauses before the monsters return. But for the most part, this works with the acceleration of the writing – Emmet and Regan’s journey running in parallel to Evelyn and Marcus's struggles in the trainyard.


Part II is a more substantial film. Krasinski builds from his extensive character work in Part I and throws the Abbotts into a better-constructed world, in which he clearly loves to play.


A Quiet Place Part II is in cinemas from Thursday 3 June.



What A Quiet Place Part II review
When 03 Jun 21 – 03 Jun 22, IN CINEMAS
Price £determined by cinemas
Website Click here for more information



Most popular

Best London Exhibition to see now
Top exhibitions on now in London
Things to do in London this weekend: 9–11 June
Things to do in London this weekend: 9–11 June
Irene Maiorino and Alba Rohrwacher in My Brilliant Friend season 4, HBO/Sky Atlantic (Photo: HBO)
My Brilliant Friend, season 4, Sky Atlantic: first-look photo, release date, plot, cast

Editor's Picks

Kelvin Harrison, Jr. in Chevalier (Photo: Disney)
In cinemas this weekend: Riley Keough co-directs a Cannes winner
John Magaro in First Cow (Photo: A24/Allyson Riggs)
First Cow review
Emma Stone in Cruella, Disney Plus (Photo: Getty/Disney Enterprises Inc./Laurie Sparham)
Cruella, Disney Plus review
Frances McDormand in Nomadland (Photo: 20th Century Studios/image.net)
Nomadland review
Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah (Photo: Warner Bros.)
Judas and the Black Messiah review
Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan in Ammonite (Photo: Lionsgate/Panther)
Ammonite review
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place Part II

Emily Blunt

John Krasinski

Horror

Cinema

2020

You might like

  • Billie Piper in Rare Beasts (Photo: Republic/Premier)

    Rare Beasts review ★★★★★

  • Grégory Montel and Camille Cotton in Call My Agent!, Netflix (Photo: Netflix)

    Why you should watch Call My Agent!

  • Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman (Photo: Sky/Focus Features)

    Promising Young Woman, Sky Cinema review ★★★★★

  • Tahir Rahim in The Mauritanian, Amazon Prime (Photo: EPK/STX Films)

    The Mauritanian, Amazon Prime review ★★★★★

  • Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Spencer (Photo: EPK/Neon)

    Spencer review ★★★★★



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×