Directed by John Krasinski (A Quiet Place) and starring Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place; The Devil Wears Prada; The Young Victoria; Edge of Tomorrow; The Girl on the Train; Salmon Fishing in the Yemen; Mary Poppins Returns), John Krasinski (A Quiet Place; 13 Hours; The Office (tv series); Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (tv series)), Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place; Wonderstruck), Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place; Le Mans '66; The Titan; Holmes & Watson; Wonder; The Night Manager (TV Series)) and Cillian Murphy (Inception; Dunkirk; The Dark Knight Rises; Perrier's Bounty; The Wind that Shakes the Barley; Red Eye; 28 Days Later; Peaky Blinders (TV Series)).
Horror, 97 mins, 16+.
This sequel to the highly-successful 2018 film starts off with a throw-back to Day 1 of the invasion when Lee Abbott (John Krasinski), his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and children were in town at a family softball game and they had to flee quickly. Fast-forward then to the current day when Evelyn, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Evelyn's new-born baby flee the farm - which is crumbling and burning around them, from the attack at the end of the original film - to seek sanctuary at an abandoned heavy industrial complex where they believe other survivors are based.
There they find Emmett (Cillian Murphy), a family friend, who has devised his own secure hiding place from the creatures. Regan, however, deciphers a radio message and wants to head to the coast where she believes she can get help; however, Evelyn does not want her to go and wants to stay to be able to protect her - after all, she has already lost her husband and one child (in the original film).
Despite the opening scenes (day 1) which feel like the only way that John Krasinski is going to get to act in his own film based on the fact that his character was killed off at the end of the original film, A Quiet Place Part II stands on its own feet. The menace and terror from the creatures is as real as before, and the weapon that Regan discovered in the original film cannot really be used against the creatures as they are travelling lightweight and without much equipment. So, in many ways they are almost back to square one.
Almost, but not quite. What they do have is experience and a somewhat makeshift plan. And gritted determination. The music and soundtrack are to perfection, particularly when (deaf) Megan is by herself and needs to rely on other senses and skills. When she and Emmett get captured, one senses that the game is up, but they have built an understand and manage to communicate.
Then, for another while, things looks to be looking up, but they are in for another shock. Their rollercoaster of a journey continues as the film visits the troughs and peaks of human emotion and feelings. A gripping tale that we have been looking forward to for far too long.
Currently being screened at Kinepolis (Kirchberg, Belval).
