The Humans fight Back in A Quiet Place 2

by Kathia Woods

When we last left A Quiet Place, noise was everyone's worst enemy; in A Quiet Place 2, it's still the Abbotts' deadliest enemy, and they're still struggling for survival.

We now learn how the world came to be as insane as the continual fear of monsters reawakening in the first film. The film begins with a flashback to the lovely upstate New York town where they used to live. Lee (John Krasinski) goes to the neighborhood convenience store to get some oranges for his son Marcus' (Noah Jupe) baseball game. Emmett (Cillian Murphy) is a resident of the town, and his son is also playing. Between him and Regan(Millicent Simmonds), there's a sweet interaction . She's attempting to teach him how to sign sword. Soon a disruption in the sky occurs during Marcus' at-bat, setting off a chain of events that alters the world as they know it.

In the present, we rejoin the Abbotts. The attack took place 400 days ago. Lee is no longer alive. In the first film, he died. Evelyn, Marcus, and Reagan, with infant Abbot in tow, have improved their alien survival skills. There are also fewer inhabitants than in the first one. They leave their home in search of a better shelter, not sure what they will encounter. There might also be other survivors, all the above sets of a harrowing trip into the unknown. This time around, the audience knows who and what the aliens are.

The sequel is more like The Walking Dead. We get to see how they've adjusted to their new normal, this time without patriarch Lee. They come across Emmett while looking for a more secure home; he is hesitant to assist. Meanwhile, Regan continues her father's investigation and is determined to track down the people who may be sending a code over the radio. Emmett is naturally tasked with following her. At first, one is concerned because Reagan is a young woman who is deaf; however, John did something clever here; instead of making her a helpless girl, he made her a determined young woman who wants to save her family. In the sequel, it is the Abbotts' next generation who take the lead.

The sequel retains many of the original's characteristics while becoming a more sophisticated thriller. There are fewer action scenes, but there is more tension. It's the fear that they won't be able to complete this new mission, but it's also about getting tired of waiting to die. The younger Abbotts have suffered greatly, and while the adults in the film are concerned, they are determined. Despite the additional hardships, they continue to strive for each other and a better future.

In the first film the adults were the focus specifically Evenly. With that scene in the bathtub, Emily Blunt had the audience on edge with that silence birth, but in this film, Millicent Simmonds rises to the occasion. She demonstrates that she is not only a great deaf actress, but a great actress in general. I hope this demonstrates to Hollywood that disabled actors can contribute to a project when given a purpose and agency. She is the film's heroine.

Marcus develops further in A Quiet Place 2. He's not the whiny kid he used to be. Although he does not realize it at first, as the film progresses, he understands that his mother and sibling rely on him. Meanwhile Evelyn is still grieving the loss of her husband while caring for the baby. She recognizes that it is her responsibility to keep this family together.

There are still some scary moments for horror fans, but the sequel is more focused on regaining territory. The film still has some thrilling moments of suspense, but the aliens aren't the focus of the plot. The Humans are fighting back in A Quiet Place 2, so while this is a bit more mellow, it's still entertaining with great performances.

A Quiet Place 2 is comes to the theaters on May 28th