A Quiet Place Part 2

Starring Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe

Written & Directed by John Krasinksi

Rating: ** ½

The long-awaited sequel to A Quiet Place , one of the most elegant horror films(if we can call it horror at all) is a praiseworthy follow-up, though nothing as stunningly befitting as Godfather Part 2, as far as sequels go.

Nonetheless Part 2 of the Quiet saga is quite an achievement. It makes you care for the characters in a way that the pandemic has taught the world to care about human beings in distress.When the first part of the film had come in 2018 there was no Covid. Therefore the alien monster seemed just a distance threat converted into a throbbing bleating reality by Kranski’s apt and controlled direction.

One of my key joy-factors in Part 1 was that we rarely saw the alien creatures. We just felt the characters’ sweaty terror and anxiety. In Part 2 the ugly aliens play a far more physical part, turning the plot about the fear of the unknown ,into something far more threatening and gimmicky .

Luckily the on-screen antics of the aliens monsters do not diminish the sheer anxiety level as mom Emily Blunt her deaf daughter Millcent Simmons and her son Noah Jupe(talented child from Wonder here prone to overact specially when compared to his screen mom and sis) lunge for safety time after time.

The suspense in the sequel is relentless. I wish the Abott family had been left to their own devices. But Hollywood remains as patriarchal in its attitude as its Indian counterpart.Since the family’s father played by director Kranski was mo more there to “protect” his family, a new man, the saviour protector is introduced as a pivotal character.

This man is played by an interesting musician turned actor Cillian Murphy and he brings a certain amount of dignified machismo to the monster brawl.

But I am afraid the screenplay runs out of steam midway. I could see Kranski struggling to induce new energy into the plot every ten minutes. Somewhere down the plot a bunch of zombie-like ghouls suddenly appear at the seaside , eliciting some wharf-the-fuck reactions from those of us who dislike the idea of a plot digressing too far from home.

But it is not all a loss for the sequel. It burns bright when it stays close to the now-fatherless Abott family .They must learn to survive. The world has changed for the worse since we last met them.