A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
★★★ — A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
When A Quiet Place arrived in 2018, it felt like a genuine breath of fresh air in mainstream horror, a film that turned silence itself into the central dramatic mechanism and did so with a confidence that belied its relatively modest origins. A sequel was, commercially speaking, a certainty, and so two years later Paramount Pictures returned to that post-apocalyptic world with A Quiet Place Part II, once again with John Krasinski at the helm. The film picks up almost directly from where its predecessor left off, with the Abbott family venturing out beyond the relative safety of their home and confronting a wider world that, it turns out, holds threats beyond the sound-hunting creatures they have learned to fear.
Krasinski, who built his directing reputation largely in television before announcing himself as a filmmaker of considerable skill with the first film, wrote the screenplay here as well, working again under the Platinum Dunes and Sunday Night Productions banners. His career as an actor, particularly well known to British and Irish audiences through his work on the American version of The Office, has always sat alongside his ambitions behind the camera, and this sequel gave him the chance to consolidate rather than simply repeat. The production brought back Emily Blunt, who proved in Looper that she is entirely comfortable carrying the weight of a genre film, alongside returning young performers Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe. The notable addition to the cast is Cillian Murphy, who steps in as a survivor encountered by the family on their journey outward, bringing a weathered, watchful quality to a role that asks him to say very little and communicate a great deal through stillness and expression alone.
The film runs a lean 96 minutes and carries the tagline "Silence is not enough", which hints at the broadening of scope Krasinski attempts here. Whether that broadening pays off is, of course, the central question, and it is one worth sitting with for a moment before hearing what the film actually does with its considerable technical resources and capable cast. For fans of Mad Max: Fury Road and other science fiction films that place survival and momentum at their heart, there is a reasonable frame of reference for what this kind of sequel is trying to do.
A Quiet Place Part II delivers exactly what you’d expect: more silence, more scares, and more of the same tightly wound tension that made the first film so effective. John Krasinski expands the world just enough, introducing new characters (including a solid Cillian Murphy) and hinting at life beyond the Abbott family’s farm, but mostly sticks to the blueprint: quiet footsteps, sudden noises, and creatures that pounce with terrifying speed. The sound design remains impeccable, and there are genuinely nerve-wracking set pieces that prove Krasinski still knows how to wring suspense from near-total silence. But that’s also the problem. It is more of the same, just without the freshness or emotional core that gave the original its weight. The stakes feel smaller, the character arcs thinner, and the structure more fragmented. Splitting the narrative between multiple threads dilutes the intensity, and while Millicent Simmonds continues to perform well, the film leans too heavily on formula rather than evolution. It’s well-made, tense, and occasionally thrilling, but ultimately feels like a polished echo rather than a true sequel. The silence still speaks volumes, but this time, it’s mostly repeating itself.
I find myself in much the same place after revisiting this one. There is real craft on screen, and a handful of sequences that had me genuinely holding my breath, which is no small achievement. But craft without surprise only takes a film so far, and the fragmented structure here keeps you at arm's length from the characters in a way the first film never did. The Abbott family earned their emotional pull, and this instalment trades on that goodwill a little too freely. Well worth a watch if you enjoyed the original, but perhaps best approached with expectations suitably managed. Sometimes a sequel that plays it safe ends up being the loudest disappointment of all.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2020 | Watched: 2026-02-11
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for A Quiet Place Part II (2020) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Paramount Plus · Paramount+ Amazon Channel
Rent: JustWatch TV · Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Netflix · Paramount Plus Premium · Paramount Plus Essential · Paramount+ Amazon Channel
Rent: JustWatch TV · Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from John Krasinski: A Quiet Place (2018)
More with Emily Blunt: A Quiet Place (2018) · Looper (2012)
More from the 2020s: Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025) · The Long Walk (2025) · Americana (2023)
More science fiction: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Fantastic Planet (1973) · Nightmare City (1980) · The Long Walk (2025)
More thriller: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Angst (1983) · The Long Walk (2025) · Punishment Park (1971)
