A Quiet Place 2 (5 Stars)

Wow! I'm finally back in the cinema again! The Coronavirus has done more to destroy the cinema than television, videos, DVDs and streaming together. There was a brief period when the cinemas in Stuttgart were open between the first and second lockdown. I managed to see six films between 24th June and 14th September last year, but "A Quiet Place 2" is my first film this year; my first film in nine months. That's sad.

The release of "A Quiet Place 2" (which has since been renamed "A Quiet Place Part 2") has been delayed by the Coronavirus lockdowns. It was originally planned for March 2020. I took this photo on 19th January 2020, the second day of the Stuttgart White Nights Festival. A contest was announced for the festival attendees: the best photo of a person attempting to remain quiet would win two free tickets for the film.

This was Benjamin's entry for the contest. No, he didn't win.

As you can see from the first photo, the planned German release date was 19th March 2020. It was finally released last week.

The film is divided into two parts. The first part takes place before the opening credits. It shows the day of the arrival of the aliens. Nobody was prepared for their arrival, and it was a quick slaughter. The monsters rush around killing everyone they can find.

The motivation of the alien invaders hasn't yet been revealed, if they have a motivation at all. They run around killing as many humans as they can, but it isn't for food. They kill for the sake of killing. It's also uncertain how they arrived on Earth. They don't seem intelligent enough to pilot a space ship. We can still only guess how they arrived. My personal theory is that a still unseen intelligent race wants to conquer the Earth, so they've unleashed wild animals to weaken the Earth's resistance. They (the intelligent aliens) know how to control or eliminate the wild beasts when they arrive. That's just a theory. If anyone has a different idea, write your idea in the comments box below. Don't forget to tick the "Notify Me" box.

The second part is the rest of the film. It begins on Day 474, the day after the end of the first film. The Abbott family is still reeling after the death of the husband and father, Lee Abbott. They see a fire in the distance, which they interpret as a sign that someone else is alive. Evelyn Abbott takes her three children to the location of the fire, and they find a solitary man, Emmett. He used to be a friend of Lee. At first he's unwilling to help, but he feels sympathy when he sees Lee's young baby.

A coded radio message suggests that they should travel across the sea. Only the daughter Regan is willing to take the risk and leaves by herself. Emmett fears for her life, so he catches up with her.

That's enough spoilers for now. This is a very good film which relies on suspense for effect. I'm proud of my fellow German cinema visitors. The theatre was absolutely silent. Not one rustle of a crisp bag or the pop of a beer bottle. Silence. This intensified the atmosphere.

The first film's main character was the mother, Evelyn Abbott, played by Emily Blunt. In the second film the main character is the daughter, Regan Abbott, played by Millicent Simmonds.