I tried avoiding the trailer for The Quiet Place: Part II. The teasers that were floating around about a month beforehand incited a groan and a sigh… with the reverberating message echoing through the small yet expected place in the back of my head “Oh boy, here’s another movie with a strong independent woman who doesn’t need no man.” I resolved to ignore the sequel to the 2018 sleeper hit that was directed by and starred John Krasinski and his real-life wife, Emily Blunt.
However, the newest full-length trailer for the sequel, which is also written and directed by John Krasinski – showed me just an inkling of hope that maybe, just maybe this isn’t going to be the typical Hollywood schlock about a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need no man and must save the planet from extradimensional terrors.
The trailer, thankfully, doesn’t go down that route. It attempts to stay a little more grounded as Emily Blunt’s character – a mother and widow who survived the events of the first film – is desperately trying to keep her kids safe and find some place that isn’t occupied by the other-worldly visitors. She happens upon a hermetic Cillian Murphy who could either turn out to be a villain or a hero, depending on how the story goes. You can check out the trailer below, courtesy of Film Trailer Zone.
Now I’m of two minds here.
My initial reaction was that the trailer was done masterfully from an editing perspective. The first sequence takes place before the events of the original film, showing the family’s first encounter with the creatures on an idyllic road through town that turns into a terror-filled living nightmare; that whole segment was cut together perfectly. The elongated arm reaching out from the bus window while it barrels toward the family was a nice, added layer of horror.
I also like that the film stays grounded. The characters and their motivations are etched simply in survival and connecting with others who can help them survive.
The added bonus of Cillian Murphy – a potential straight, white male character – being in a savior’s role could help make the film enjoyable and avoid any pretense of subversion.
However, there’s the second part of me that further surveys some of the ins and outs of the trailer that makes me believe that Cillian’s character won’t be a straight, white male savior.
We see him with black actor Djimon Hounsou in a couple of clips where the first thing that comes to mind is “What sort of relationship is this? Are they friends? Rivals? Unlikely allies? Please don’t tell me they’re lovers!”
It might seem like a silly thing to quibble about in thought, but The Eternals turned one of the leading characters gay, and they also made Valkyrie gay in Thor, and they also made the leader in Voltron gay. So it is something you have to be conscious of, and something you have to think about, especially if you want to avoid subversion in mainstream movies.
There’s also the other concern: what if Cillian Murphy is a honey pot?
What if they have what looks like the prototypical male in the movie just to subvert expectations, make him the villain, and then have the strong, independent woman overcome her patriarchal adversary?
What if he’s there to lure in viewers with a false sense of security, and then bam! They hit you with the gay.
There’s so much propaganda that runs rife in movies today that it’s impossible to see a well-made trailer like the one above – which does do a fine job of avoiding spoilers and unnecessary giveaways – and not think about the consequences or potentialities for agitprop. We’ll find out just how wayward or steadfast they get with the narrative when The Quiet Place: Part II hits theaters in March.
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