John Krasinski was the "nice guy" from The Office. Nobody expected him to reinvent the modern monster movie, but here we are. When the first film dropped in 2018, it wasn't just another jump-scare fest. It was a stressful, silent masterclass in tension. Since then, the series has expanded into a full-blown cinematic universe. Tracking A Quiet Place all movies means looking at how a simple "if they hear you, they hunt you" gimmick turned into a multi-billion dollar survival epic.
It’s about the sound. Or lack of it.
Usually, horror movies use loud bangs to make you jump. Krasinski did the opposite. He used silence to make you hold your breath until your lungs burned. By the time Day One hit theaters, the franchise had moved from a quiet farm in upstate New York to the loudest city on the planet.
The Evolution of Silence
Most people start with the 2018 original. It feels small. Intimate. You’ve got the Abbott family—Lee, Evelyn, and their kids—navigating a world where even a dropped toy is a death sentence. It’s basically a silent film with a few terrifying interruptions.
What’s wild is how much the series relies on visual storytelling. Millicent Simmonds, who plays Regan, is actually deaf. This wasn't just a casting choice for "authenticity" points; it fundamentally changed how the movies were filmed. The camera stays on her face. You see the world through her perspective—total silence. This creates a weirdly effective bond between the viewer and the character. You feel her vulnerability because she can't hear the monster breathing right behind her.
Then came the 2021 sequel.
A Quiet Place Part II had a tough job. It had to expand the world without losing that claustrophobic feel. It starts with a flashback—Day 1—showing the initial invasion. It’s chaotic. It’s loud. It’s everything the first movie wasn't. But then it settles back into that grueling, quiet survival mode. We see Cillian Murphy enter the fray as Emmett, a guy who has basically given up on humanity.
Breaking Down A Quiet Place All Movies in Chronological Order
If you’re trying to watch these in the order the events actually happen, you have to shuffle the release dates.
- A Quiet Place: Day One (2024): This is the prequel. Set in New York City, it follows Sam (Lupita Nyong’o) and Eric (Joseph Quinn). It’s the loudest the franchise gets. Seeing the meteors hit and the initial panic in Manhattan is a far cry from the rustling cornfields of the first film.
- A Quiet Place (2018): We jump forward to Day 89 of the invasion. This is the core story of the Abbott family trying to survive while Evelyn is pregnant. Yes, having a baby in a world where noise equals death is a terrifying premise.
- A Quiet Place Part II (2021): This picks up literally seconds after the first movie ends. The family has to leave the farm and find other survivors.
There is a third main-line sequel in development, likely focusing on the Abbotts again, but the spin-offs are where the world-building is really happening now.
Why the Death Angels Aren't Just Generic Aliens
Let's talk about the monsters. They’re officially called "Death Angels," which is a bit dramatic, but they earn it. These things aren't just hungry; they’re biological killing machines.
They can't see. They don't have eyes.
Their entire head is basically a giant ear covered in armored plating. Biologists and creature designers actually looked at how sound-sensitive animals work to create these things. They move like bats or insects. The way their armor shifts to expose the soft tissue underneath when they’re "listening" is a disgusting, brilliant bit of CGI.
One thing the movies get right: the creatures don't eat people. They just kill anything that makes noise. They’re territorial predators on a planetary scale. This is a massive distinction because it makes them feel more like a natural disaster than a typical movie villain. You can't reason with a tornado, and you definitely can't reason with these things.
The New York Factor: A Quiet Place Day One
The biggest risk the franchise took was Day One. Moving the setting to New York City sounds like a recipe for a generic disaster flick. But Michael Sarnoski, the director, kept it grounded.
Sam isn't a hero. She’s a woman with terminal cancer who just wants a slice of pizza. It’s incredibly human. Instead of focusing on "how do we save the world," the movie asks, "how do we spend our last hours?" It’s bleak, sure, but it adds a layer of soul that most horror franchises lose by their third installment.
Seeing the sheer scale of the invasion in a city of 8 million people helps explain why the world fell so fast. If you're in Times Square and the sky starts falling, where do you go? You can't be quiet in NYC. The subway screeches. The sirens wail. The pigeons... well, they’re just annoying. Watching the city go dead silent is one of the most haunting visuals in recent cinema.
Critical Reception and Why It Matters
Critics generally love these movies, which is rare for horror sequels. A Quiet Place holds a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. The sequel sits at 91%. Even the prequel maintained high marks.
Why? Because they don't over-explain.
We don't get a 20-minute scene of a scientist in a lab coat explaining that the aliens came from a planet called "Xenon-4." We just see the newspaper clippings on the wall. We see the sand paths the family laid down. The movies trust the audience to be smart. That’s the secret sauce.
Navigating the Lore: What We Still Don't Know
Despite having three films, there are massive holes in the story—and that’s a good thing.
- Where did they come from? We know they arrived via meteors. We don't know if they were sent or if they just hitchhiked on a rock.
- The Government's Fate: We see glimpses of the military failing, but is there a central command left?
- The Frequency: We know high-frequency feedback (like from Regan’s hearing aid) kills them. Why hasn't the rest of the world figured this out and broadcasted it on every radio tower?
Actually, Part II addresses the radio tower bit, but it shows how difficult it is to coordinate a global counter-attack when you can't even talk to your neighbor.
The Practical Side: How to Watch and What to Expect Next
If you’re diving into A Quiet Place all movies for a marathon, prepare for a workout. Your ears will be ringing from the silence.
The sound design is the most important "character." If you’re watching at home, use headphones. Seriously. The way the audio shifts from 360-degree surround sound to the muffled "vibration-only" perspective of Regan is lost on crappy TV speakers.
Looking ahead, A Quiet Place Part III is the big one on the horizon. It’s expected to wrap up the Abbott family saga. There’s also talk of a video game, which makes sense. A stealth-based game where the mic on your controller listens to your real-life room? That’s nightmare fuel.
How to Survive the Death Angels (Based on the Films)
If you find yourself in this universe, the rules are pretty simple but nearly impossible to follow.
- Walk on the sand. The Abbotts spent months laying down sand paths to dampen footsteps. It works.
- Paint the floor. If you’re indoors, find the floorboards that don't creak and mark them with paint.
- The Waterfall Rule. Background noise is your friend. If you’re near a loud waterfall, you can scream at the top of your lungs because the "constant" noise masks your specific sound.
- Get a hearing aid. Or any high-frequency transmitter. It’s the only way to drop their shields.
The brilliance of this franchise is that it turns everyday objects into weapons and death traps. A loose nail on a staircase becomes the most terrifying thing in the world. A kitchen timer becomes a tactical distraction.
It’s not about the monsters. It’s about how much we take for granted in a world that is never, ever quiet.
The next logical step for any fan is to revisit the original 2018 film and look for the foreshadowing in the background newspaper clippings. Most people miss the details about the meteor landing sites that eventually set up the entire plot of the prequel.
Actionable Insights for Movie Fans:
- Watch Chronologically: If you want a fresh perspective, watch Day One, then Part I, then Part II. It changes the emotional stakes of the Abbott family’s struggle when you’ve seen the global scale of the collapse first.
- Audio Setup: For the best experience, use a Dolby Atmos setup or high-quality noise-canceling headphones. The dynamic range in these films—the gap between the quietest and loudest sounds—is massive.
- Monitor News for Part III: Keep an eye on Paramount’s official releases for the 2025-2026 slate. The "trilogy" conclusion is the most anticipated horror wrap-up in years.