Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy, John Krasinski, Djimon Hounsou, Okieriete Onaodowan, Scoot McNairy.
Step lightly upon this Earth, for in the shadows lay those waiting for our footsteps to falter and for us to cry out in pain, and they will tear us apart.
If A Quiet Place was one of the surprise, and deserving hits of the last decade, then its sequel was almost a sure gone conclusion; it just demanded the continued involvement of John Krasinski, and in A Quiet Place Part II, the same racked up tension, of delivery without dialogue in some of its more observed and focused scenes, is key and astutely pursued.
Like its predecessor, A Quiet Place Part II aims high in its dramatic inclusion of the community of the deaf, and once more the film’s heart belongs to Millicent Simmonds as the deaf young teen Regan Abbott, a consideration of much thought when you also apply the fact that Noah Jupe gives a tremendous performance, and Cillian Murphy’s Emmett is the epitome of the survivor plagued with guilt, remorse and sorrow, a tantalising mixture framed neatly in the raggedness of the man.
A Quiet Place Part II also demands of the listener the agreed notion of silence, we tread upon this world as if any noise we make is of little consequence, and the more noise we make, the more we get noticed, and it that illusion to being observed by powers that are greater, more attuned to all our whispers, that makes this film creepily alluring, dangerous to contemplate and filmed with genuine care for the overall tale; one that has got the type of steam attached to it to make it a long running adventure without once breaking the dynamic that has been created.
To find yourself holding your breath during such a film is a mark of respect to the story being told, and you cannot but help being held in open air status as the action unfolds, as the adrenaline kicks in and the fear of what is hiding in the shadows waiting for any reaction from the watcher begins to dig deep into the soul. Such a film is rare, you have to think of films such as Jaws, of the initial encounter with Alien, and Saw to have the same response; and it is to the credit of director and writer, and the entire cast that A Quiet Place Part II is fittingly spoken of in the same high calibre of words and emotions.
Find a quiet place, find a place to hide, for the more noise we make, the more chance we have being destroyed.
Ian D. Hall