A Quiet Place 2 (2021)
The second installment of John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place franchise was released over Memorial Day break. The first movie, which was released in 2018, became a major box office hit making over $340 million so Paramount quickly demanded a sequel. This film has been delayed multiple times over the past year, but it has finally been released and it was definitely made to be seen in the theater.
The ending of the first one didn’t seem to be that open-ended that it needed a sequel. However, the plot of the second does tie into the first quite nicely and doesn’t make for a boring movie experience. This sequel was a direct continuation of the first movie, though now it focuses more on the kids and their journey to independence, while the first movie was more about the parents trying to protect their children.
The beginning of the movie showed the events of Day 1. It was interesting to see the town, which we’ve only seen after it was destroyed, to be perfectly fine. Senior Colette Albertson said, “seeing the store and the whole town from the first movie completely intact was so cool!” Showing the beginnings of this apocalypse was very cool to see and a great choice on Krasinski’s part. Also, the whole opening sequence was shot as a one take so it significantly increased the tension. Colette continued saying, “the opening segment was so interesting as it basically set-up the movie, with so much foreshadowing and symbols.”
Unlike the first movie, this one saw the family separated. The eldest daughter, Regan, was looking for more people with new character, Emmett. The son Marcus was tending to a gruesome leg injury with his mother Evelyn and newborn brother.
Just like its predecessor, A Quiet Place 2 has themes and symbols present throughout the movie. Even though it was a horror movie, the main message is love, family, and survival. The acting performances were incredible, especially the two kids Regan and Marcus. You could really feel the tension just off their facial expressions (because they can’t talk). As an audience member, you felt as if you couldn’t make a noise in order to not endanger the family. Junior Lina Tornese said, “even though the movie was quiet, it was loud in emotion.”
The movie ended with the two children protecting the two adults, showing just how much independence they’ve gained during this horrifying experience. However, the film ended sort of abruptly with the Abbott family separated. That is why we believe this is not the end of A Quiet Place and there are more stories to be told. A third movie seems pretty likely as Paramount really pushed for a second film after the first made so much money and the second has already made $45 million in its opening weekend.
A Quiet Place 2 was a really good movie that pretty much lived up to the fantastic first one. John Krasinski has done an amazing job with this franchise and we can’t wait to see what’s next for this scary apocalypse story.