a quiet place part 2 picks up right
where the first leaves off
with their farmhouse in ruins the
surviving habits head out into the wider
world discovering that not everyone is
taken to the apocalypse as gracefully as
they have
let's break down the ending of a quiet
place part 2.
writer director and star john krasinski
calls the quiet place films a love
letter to his children and when a quiet
place part 2 ends it's easy to see why
well the first movie is all about the
sacrifices parents make to keep their
children
safe the second seesy abbott kids step
up and become heroes
with both reagan and marcus managing to
defeat the death angel
in both cases the kids are protecting
the adults around them reversing the
roles of the previous film when they
needed their parents protection
both of their victories also show how
their experiences in the harsh
post-apocalyptic world have changed them
and not necessarily for
the better most importantly though these
are two moments of huge personal growth
for marcus who is somehow even more
anxious in a quiet place part 2 than he
was in the first movie
his killing of a death angel is when he
finally overcomes his fears and stands
up for himself
for reagan it marks the end of her quest
she's done her part to save the world
honoring her father's memory in the
process
the most important character in a quiet
place part 2 may be one who's already
dead
lee abbott played by krazynski
sacrificed himself in order to save his
family in the first movie and his legacy
looms large over the sequel
lee taught marcus the skills the boy
uses to survive the movie's climax
reagan embarked on her journey to find
the radio tower because she says
it's what lee would have done that's why
the opening flashback in a quiet place
part 2
is more than an excuse to give krazynski
some screen time sure it's fun to see
how everything started and the opening
invasion is full of exciting set pieces
it's not just fan service though lee is
central to both reagan and marcus's arcs
so having him appear in the beginning
makes the ending hit a lot harder
while the first movie showed that lee
could be obsessive and hard-headed his
portrayal in part two
is overwhelmingly positive he's a good
father a nice neighbor and a well-liked
member of the community
showing up late to a little league game
seems to be his only flaw in this case
that's okay this time reagan marcus and
evelyn are dealing with lee's memory
not the actual man it only makes sense
that we see an idealized version of him
too
lee is also central to the story of
emmett the abbott's former neighbor who
is holed up in the old steel mill
emin is everything that lee isn't
instead of sacrificing himself to save
his family
emmett watched his wife and children die
while the abbotts tried to make life on
the farm feel as normal as possible
emmett trades comfort for survival
lee sought out other survivors emmett
argues that anyone who's still
alive isn't to be trusted i don't know
why he came all the way up here
there's nothing left the contrast
between lee and emmett becomes even more
pronounced when emmett reluctantly
agrees to accompany reagan on her trip
to the radio tower essentially becoming
a surrogate father figure to the young
girl
despite his graff and at times paranoid
exterior emmett is a good man and the
journey changes him
he forges a real bond with reagan even
using the limited amount of sign
language he knows to protect her from
danger
once he and reagan reach the island
emmett discovers that much to his
surprise
good people can still thrive in this
world when the monster attacks emmett
pulls moves straight from lee's playbook
putting himself in harm's way to save
others
he draws the monster's attention away
from the community by driving the truck
and puts himself in harm's way to
protect reagan at the radio
station emmett will never take lee's
place but by the end of the film he's
beginning to follow his old friend's
example
and the world is better off for it a
quiet place part 2 expands on the world
of the first movie by explaining the
monster's origins
yes they're from space and also showing
how different communities have reacted
to the apocalypse beyond the avid's farm
it's such an inspired sequel the world
expands in this one
because they have to venture out for
krazynski who wrote the screenplay for a
quiet place part 2 on his own this
presents a conundrum despite the wide
open cornfields and airy feel of the
avid's homestead the first quiet place
movie really takes after films like
alien and john carpenter's the thing
which trapped their heroes in a confined
space with a deadly paranoia-inducing
monster
going outside the farm threatens to
upend that balance robbing the sequel of
everything that makes the franchise
special
krazynski's solution to this problem is
clever while the world gets larger in a
quiet place part 2
the action itself moves into
increasingly small spaces
the opening flashback consumes an entire
town the first steps in the abbott's
journey take them into the wilderness
from there they move to the steel mill
and then a small bunker inside
by the time marcus and evelyn reach the
movie's climax they're trapped in a
cramped vault
similarly reagan and emmett go from
upstate new york to a remote isolated
island and end up making their final
stand in a tiny radio station
in this way krazynski ratchets up the
claustrophobic tension that defined the
first movie even while broadening the
series's mythology at the same time
a quiet place part 2 plays on the
confined atmosphere of the first movie
in another way too
in part two all of the characters are
trapped sometimes literally marcus steps
on an actual bear trap emmett has a rope
tied around his neck restricting his
movement
reagan ends up cornered in an old train
an entire community is stuck on an
island with nowhere to run when a
monster attacks
baby abbott is kept in a box and marcus
locks himself in the vault under the
steel plant
but the characters are mentally trapped
too marcus is dominated by a sphere
emmett is haunted by his inability to
save his family reagan's sense of
obligation and the example set by her
father can't be escaped
evelyn isn't exactly shackled to her
family but as the one who ensures their
survival she's forced to undertake some
risky missions at least until the kids
prove they can protect themselves in
that light reagan's quest takes on a
different connotation
killing the monsters isn't the goal it's
a means to an end
reagan's real mission revolves around
freedom the freedom to live a normal
life and to escape the terror that's
plagued them since the alien attack
began a quiet place part 2 ends on an
image of hope
reagan's implant dangling from the radio
station microphone its disruptive signal
being broadcast to people all over
america's east coast
and yet while this is clearly supposed
to be a sign of positive things to come
a quiet place park 2 proves time and
again that safety is an illusion
and that's without taking into account
the problems with reagan's plan
are people really going to be listening
to the radio without headphones in a
world where sound attracts monsters
if not how will they ever realize that
the random screeching coming over the
airwaves is the key to their survival
these are real questions but to be fair
neither quiet place movie is perfect
when it comes to plot logic
while the quiet place part 2 greatly
expands our understanding of the
post-apocalyptic world there are a
number of questions that remain when the
credits begin
narratively it's probably for the best
that these movies don't delve into the
larger socio-political implications of
the invasion but there are still things
we want to know about our characters
that the film simply doesn't answer
mainly what do reagan and emmett do now
do they return to the steel plant and
reunite with the rest of the abbott
family or do they wait for evelyn marcus
and the baby to come to them
what is the state of the island
community now that it has been attacked
by a monster and many of its residents
are dead
will life continue there like it did
before or is that refuge gone
as mentioned before it's also not clear
exactly how reagan's plan is gonna pan
out either
it feels like there are a few more steps
that need to be taken before the
monsters are in real trouble
finally after two movies are we ever
going to learn that baby's name
if a quiet place part 2 performs well at
the box office a sequel seems almost
guaranteed
what's less obvious is whether or not
the abbots will return on top of the
husband and wife team at the head of the
series maybe being ready to move on
it kind of feels like the abbott's story
is over it's not clear how much room for
growth they have left
the alien invasion was a global event
though and there are plenty of other
locations where people are probably
still struggling to survive
what do things look like in different
climates or other countries
and what would this world look like
years down the line habits or no habits
the quiet place movies thrive on being
stories about everyday people
stick to that core and the franchise
could run for a very long time
check out one of our newest videos right
here plus even more looper videos
about your favorite movies and tv shows
are coming soon
subscribe to our youtube channel and hit
the bell so you don't miss a single one