Rated: M
Directed and Written by: John Krasinski
Based on Characters Created by: Bryan Woods, Scott Beck
Produced by: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski.
‘Keep listening,’ signs Regan (Millicent Simmonds), because, A Quiet Place Part II is about the children left, the sons and daughter walking in the footsteps of their father (John Krasinski) so the sequel is a continuation of the previous story, to go, “deeper”: the term John Krasinski (writer and director) used to best describe Part II in the Q&A following the preview screening.
It’s hard not to walk into the cinema with sky high expectations after being blown away by the surprisingly taunt suspense yet moving original (A Quiet Place (2018) got 4.5/5 from me, see review here).
And my expectations were met.
Because the tone and feeling are in the same realm but instead of the surprise of family drama amongst the thrill of surviving a monster invasion – Part II is more than just surviving, this is about hope.
Instead of that linear unfolding of story (remember the nail?!), the suspense here is crushing as the family separates to survive: ‘You got this, you have everything you need,’ Evelyn (Emily Blunt) tells her son, Marcus (Noah Jupe), hand to chest – breathe.
And by separating the characters the film multiplies the number of intense situations. Just waiting, waiting, for that next scare, that hum in the background building to suddenly snap.
I don’t want to give too much away but there’s some clever shifts in time here, seamless, as Marcus remembers Day 1. The invasion.
I wasn’t expecting the father, Lee (John Krasinski) to be back but what a great way to reintroduce the world by going back to the beginning.
There’s that absolute silence that again invites the audience to lean in, to then jump (there are so many jumps!) with explosive action, the audience gasping and twittering as the monsters prowl, purr and claw people apart.
Jumping forward to Day 474. It gets tense.
John went on to say the original was written as a family drama that just happened to be a genre film. That family drama is what made it for me (as well as the suspense, play with sound, story, etc). The father character and the family unit was just so well played the impact still resonates.
So to continue with the family unit but now changed was good but different.
There’s the introduction of friend and neighbour, Emmet (Cillian Murphy).
John describes his character as morally ambiguous and an anchor for the story.
Emmet was an interesting character, a round character that had to be warmed up. But the standout here for me was Millicent as the daughter, Regan: strong, gentle, determined. Just like her mother.
Part II wasn’t quite as good as the original (for me) because some of that, wow this is different, had to be built elsewhere. But with clever direction, steering the tone and build of suspense (really-ramped up this time), while still opening-up the family drama – those scenes of mother and baby so authentic and sweet – made Part II a worthy sequel.
And watching on the big screen, with the audience gasping, jumping and as a whole all holding our breath (breathe) was a treat.