John Krasinski’s horror sequel is the perfect pandemic blockbuster, writes Roshan Chandy…
Director: John Krasinski
Starring: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy
Running time: 97 minutes
A Quiet Place Part II was the first movie to be delayed when the lockdown began last spring and it's ironic it's now one of the first movies to reopen the cinemas as we come out of this pandemic. I loved it. It's perfect pandemic viewing – very apt given it's a movie about a world in a global catastrophe and people having to pull together to survive.
The plot picks up where the first film left off. Emily Blunt now has a new baby and a mute daughter – perfect for muffling out sound when there are monsters that "If they hear you, they hunt you". Cillian Muphy is another survivor and friend of John Krasinski's now deceased dad. The family now have to brave the outdoors having survived the events at the house where Emily gave birth in silence.
From here, it's another superb hour of psychological and silent tension – not cheap tricks like jump scares or bogeymen in closets. This movie has an understanding of the mechanics of silent cinema where actions speak louder than words quite literally and the actors have to tell their story through their bodily contortions than through their mouths. It makes for superb cinema.
You won't want to be eating popcorn or making noises during this movie
You won't want to be eating popcorn, farting or making noises with your reclining seats during this movie. It requires audiences to behave themselves so much so that one audience member at the screening I was at had to politely tell someone: "Can you stop talking please?" Very good choice of words – I'd have been much more forceful with my effing and blinding.
And the creatures look fantastic. All rubbery and gloopy and grotesque with clocks chiming in their heads. They look as if the Xenomorph from Alien and the Fly from David Cronenberg's film of the same name had a baby.
The movie ends with a teaser, like the first, for 'A Quiet Place Part III'. On the strength of this sequel, I can't wait. It's even better than the first.
A Quiet Place Part II is in cinemas now
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