SILENCE IS NOT ENOUGH.

The Abbotts continue their struggle to survive, having come up with a way to attack the monsters with high-frequency noise; one day, they meet a friend (Cillian Murphy) from the past.

The sequel begins with a slam-bang flashback sequence showing us how the aliens arrived, and continues in the same breakneck fashion, as the family members are off on separate adventures. The filmmakers skillfully cut between them, building tension in nifty, varied ways until we’re at the edge of our seats.

The reason why we’re so invested is partly due to likable characters; Murphy is a good addition to the cast.

2021-U.S. 97 min. Color. Widescreen. Written and directed by John Krasinski. Cast: Emily Blunt (Evelyn Abbott), Cillian Murphy (Emmett), Millicent Simmonds (Regan Abbott), Noah Jupe (Marcus Abbott), Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski. 

Trivia: Co-produced by Krasinski and Michael Bay. Filmed in 2019 and delayed more than a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last word: “The first movie is a love letter to my kids from me, what I thought it meant to be a parent, this one is a hopeful futuristic dream that I have that my kids will be this courageous, this optimistic, this hopeful in in no matter how dark life gets. That they’d still light a candle and try to soldier on.” (Krasinski, Screen Rant)