‘A Quiet Place II’ Breaks Pandemic Box Office Records, Hinting People Feel Less Anxiety From Horror Films Than Actual Life

After a long, dark year of movie theaters around the country shuttered in silence, A Quiet Place Part II is making quite the noise. With the largest opening weekend in pandemic history, the sequel to the film that made shushing vogue is just what the doctor ordered.

The movie from Hollywood power couple Emily Blunt and Jon Krasinski was originally slated to come out last year but held back at the last minute to avoid going straight to streaming when the pandemic hit. The stutter-step is paying off, not only because the film grossed $57 million in its first weekend (annihilating Godzilla vs Kong’s $32 million) but also because a film like this should be seen on the biggest screen in town.

Blunt returns as Evelyn Abbot, replacing her husband with a newborn baby (burn) who she keeps tucked away in a small suitcase with an oxygen mask strapped to its face. Ostensibly packed and ready to hit the road, the remaining Abbots come across their neighbor Emmet who gives them a quiet place to hunker down.

But after hearing what she thinks is a secret message coming through the radio transmitter, headstrong daughter Regan Abbot sneaks off to find humanity’s salvation. With a baby to take care of, Evelyn persuades Emmet to find and rescue Regan. As the two parties split, all manner of things go wrong, and survival grows as slim as a post-pandemic grocery line.

The premise of A Quiet Place 2 might be incredibly gimmicky, but Krasinski manages to squeeze every drop of tension and viscerality he can from each frame. The result is an anxiety-riddled fear-fest that makes returning to the horror-show of life outside the movies a lot more palatable. For $15 a pop it’s the best therapy money can buy.

Cover Photo: Paramount Pictures

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