The second entry in the A Quiet Place franchise has hit theaters. However, with so many prequels and reboots, fans are wondering if it’s okay to see it before the first movie. We’ll discuss whether someone should watch The Quiet Place 1 before 2, and cover the story of the first movie for those who just can’t avoid skipping it.
Should you see the first A Quiet Place before A Quiet Place 2?
Since A Quiet Place 2 is a direct sequel to the original movie, people should watch it first. However, the second movie is a self-contained story that clues the watcher in on everything going on rather quickly. Despite this, missing the first movie leaves out a lot of background on the characters, which lessens the suspense.
Those who haven’t watched the first movie can read below for a brief synopsis. Obviously, there are spoilers, so those that want to see the original A Quiet Place shouldn’t continue.
In the first film, we learn that an alien species has invaded our planet. They are covered in a strong armor that is impervious to bullets. The creatures’ one weakness is that they’re blind, but they make up for it with incredibly sensitive hearing, and they attack anything that makes noise with ferocious strength.
Eighty-nine days after the aliens’ arrival, most of humanity (and other land-based lifeforms) are dead. The film centers around the Abbott family and the initial scene shows the death of their young son Beau. While the family walks barefoot to make less noise and communicate in sign language (which they know due to the daughter Regan’s hearing disability), Beau finds a toy that makes noise. His father takes it away, but Regan gives it back to him. As the family is crossing the bridge Beau accidentally causes the toy to play a sound, and a nearby creature kills him.
A year later, Regan and her father’s relationship is strained due to her guilt over Beau’s death. Evelyn, the mother, is about to give birth, and the family has found a house and soundproofed parts of it so they can live somewhat normally. The father, Lee, continues to contact others with a radio, but no one answers.
Though there are twists and turns, the end result is that Lee ends up sacrificing himself to save Regan, his other son, Marcus, and his wife and newborn. However, the family discovers that the cochlear implant Lee was trying to upgrade for Regan outputs a high-frequency sound that causes the aliens to be disoriented and open their armored shell. At the last moment, Evelyn is able to use this weakness to kill one with a shotgun. The film ends with the family, armed with the knowledge of this weakness, prepared to fight off more creatures.
