Watching as many horror movies as I have, it is pretty rare for me to yell at the characters or kick at the TV screen. A Quiet Place Part II had me doing both a lot more than I care to admit.

The movie started with a little bit of back story surrounding the Abbott family right before the blind alien creatures arrived and began killing anything that made a sound. It was a nice way to ease back into the characters and environment and bring back John Krasinski’s fatherly Lee character, if only briefly. Wait, did I say “ease” back in? Heh.

There is no easing into anything in this movie. It takes a sledgehammer and pounds you with the tension. Just when you think your heartrate couldn’t get any higher, it does. You don’t get many chances to take a breath or relax. And you are always reminded of how dire the situations are.

Newcomer Cillian Murphy plays Emmett, who is distraught by the loss of his family and initially doesn’t want to get involved with the Abbotts in a selfish attempt to survive. I really liked that even though he is naturally a father figure, the movie smartly kept him as a reluctant helper, not a stand-in John Krasinski.

Where they movie really shines is the sound design and clever writing. You can tell meticulous care was taken to craft a solid story from start to finish.

There are some interesting explorations of the deadly world with the discovery of presumably cannibalistic survivors as well as an island utopia. My only real complaint was that it ended abruptly, leaving the viewer wanting just a tiny bit of wrap-up.

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