Lisa Johnson Mandell’s A Quiet Place 2 review says it’s even better the second time around, and we already can’t wait for the third.

No one saw (or heard) A Quiet Place coming. John Krasinski was beloved as Jim Halpert on The Office, but as a writer and director of a major motion picture? We didn’t quite know what to expect, even though it did star Krasinski’s brilliant wife Emily Blunt, and was produced by Michael Bay.

But when it hit the big screen, and we were all blown away. Even those who didn’t go for horror movies per se loved the suspense, the acting, the story and the craftsmanship. The original script, which follows a family of five whose world has been overtaken by mysterious monsters who hunt by sound, causing them to have to live in silence, felt fresh and riveting.

That set expectations sky high for the sequel, A Quiet Place Part 2. Especially since we had to wait about an extra year to see it — it was slated for release during the pandemic, and postponed several times.

But now that we’re ready to go back the movies and A Quiet Place Part 2 can be seen in a theater near you, you may ask, Was it worth the wait? Can it possibly top its genius predecessor?

The answer is a resounding “yes!” A Quiet Place Part 2 is all that and  — get this — more! If you’ve been deliberating on whether or not you’re ready to return to the cinema, this film should convince you.

Krasinski has in fact over delivered, in a number of ways:

• An intriguing prelude: We get a better idea of where those monsters came from, as it opens with Dad (Krasinski) and family on the eve of destruction, then flashes forward to the frightening spot where A Quiet Place left off. It doesn’t answer all your questions, but enough to give you additional perspective.
• The original cast: They’re back, with some stellar additions, namely ice-blue eyed Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou. The children (Noah Jupe and the award winning Millicent Simmonds) have grown both in stature and character, and really carry the film. Simmonds, who is 18 and deaf in real life as well as in the movie, is absolutely mesmerizing and will bring you to tears…several times.
• The excruciating suspense! Krasinski has savvily written a script that splits up the family, and the drama spins out in three different directions at once. The suspense is almost unbearable, but exquisitely well crafted and tied together. Kudos for this also go to editor Michael P. Shawver (Black Panther, Creed, Fruitvale Station).
• That score! Horror movie music has become painfully cliche, and often either punches you in the face or gives away important plot points. But leave it to Marco Beltrami (The Hurt Locker, A Quiet Place, Free Solo) to come up with something extremely moving and ultimately suspenseful.
• The setup for Part III: No one really knows how many episodes there might be in The Quiet Place saga, but the sequel to the first in any franchise is often just a vapid place holder. Not so here—complete in and of itself, it still leaves you wanting…needing a next installment. But Part 2 is still able to stand alone.

Lisa Johnson Mandell’s A Quiet Place 2 review says it’s even better the second time around, and we already can’t wait for the third.