Scoot McNairy Archives

Review: ‘A Complete Unknown,’ starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook and Scoot McNairy

December 22, 2024

by Carla Hay

Monica Barbaro and Timothée Chalamet in “A Complete Unknown” (Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

Directed by James Mangold

Culture Representation: Taking place from 1961 to 1965, in New York City and other parts of the United States, the dramatic film “A Complete Unknown” (a biopic of singer/songwriter Bob Dylan) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people and Asian people) who are connected in some way to Dylan.

Culture Clash: Bob Dylan goes from being an unknown singer to a star in folk music, but he angers and alienates many people when he decides to peform rock music with electric instruments.

Culture Audience: “A Complete Unknown” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of Dylan, the movie’s headliners and well-acted music biopics that are jam-packed with performances.

Edward Norton and Timothée Chalamet in “A Complete Unknown” (Photo by Macall Polay/Searchlight Pictures)

The Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” greatly benefits from talented cast members who give very credible performances. At times, the movie resembles a compilation of music videos, but Timothée Chalamet is perfectly cast as Dylan. Because the real-life Dylan has a deliberately mysterious public persona, don’t expect this movie to give any further insights that numerous books, feature profiles and documentaries about Dylan haven’t already covered.

Directed by James Mangold, “A Complete Unknown” was co-written by Mangold and Ja Cocks, The screenplay is adapted from Elijah Wald’s 2015 non-fiction book “Dylan Goes Electric.” The movie takes place in chronological order, from 1961 to 1965. It was in 1965 that Dylan controversially evolved from performing acoustic folk music to electric rock music. Predictably, the movie’s big climactic scene (as shown in the “A Complete Unknown” trailers) is the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, the event in Rhode Island where Dylan first performed with electric instruments in public and was nearly booed off of the stage.

The title “A Complete Unknown” is taken from a phrase in Dylan’s 1965 anthem “Like a Rolling Stone,” which exemplified his musical metamorphosis. Of course, Dylan went on to even more musical experimentation after 1965, including recording some Christian music albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s. And it can be argued that Dylan became a lot more interesting after 1965. But as it stands, “A Complete Unknown” capably covers Dylan’s rise to stardom as a young artist in the first half of the 1960s decade. (For the purposes of this review, the real people are referred to by their last names, while characters in the movie are referred to by their first names.)

“A Complete Unknown” begins by showing Bob (whose birth name was Robert Zimmerman) arriving from his native Minnesota to New York City in 1961, when he literally was a complete unknown at the age of 19 or 20. (“A Complete Unknown” was filmed in New Jersey.) The movie hits all the expected beats in depicting how Bob became part of the New York City folk music scene, where Greenwich Village nightclubs such as Cafe Wha? showcased up-and-coming music artists. Bob didn’t like to talk about his past and freely admitted that he fabricated stories about himself to make himself appear more interesting.

Around the same time that Bob relocates to New York City, folk singer Pete Seeger (played by Edward Norton) is found guilty of contempt of Congress because Pete refused to answer questions from the House Un-American Activities Committee. Woody doesn’t seem to bothered by this conviction in this high-profile trial. On the courthouse steps, he cheerfully sings Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” in front of assembled reporters and other spectators. Pete later becomes an important mentor to Bob, whom Pete thinks is the ideal artist to make folk music more popular and mainstream.

One of Dylan’s goals as a new arrival in New York City was to find and visit his musical hero Woody Guthrie (played by Scoot McNairy), who at the time was a Huntington’s disease patient at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris County, New Jersey. Huntington’s disease is a genetic brain disorder that causes loss of speech, memory and other physical/mental abilities. After asking people where to find Woody, Bob makes his way to the hospital, where he sees Pete at mute Woody’s bedside.

Pete hands a Woody Guthrie business card that to Bob. The card says on the back, “I’m not dead yet,” which Pete says is given to all of Woody’s visitors. (This is a true story that is part of Dylan’s early history as a performer.) It’s an amusing part of the movie that shows Woody still has a spark of personality. McNairy does an admirable job in his brief appearances in the movie, as he portrays someone who can’t talk and has to express himself in other ways.

It’s in this hospital scene that viewers first see Bob open up and show who he really is as an artist and perhaps as a person. Bob is star-struck by Woody, who is curious about this young stranger who says he’s a big fan of Woody. Bob ends up playing an original song that he wrote for Woody. In response, Woody seems emotionally moved and knocks on a nearby dresser table in approval. It’s all a young Bob needs for encouragement. In real life and in the movie, Dylan wrote 1962’s “Song for Woody” shortly after this encounter with Guthrie.

“A Complete Unknown” is a story about Bob being torn between folk music and rock music, with many people telling him that he had to choose between one or the other. The movie also shows that Bob faced a similar situation in his love life, when he got caught up in a love triangle with a young progressive activist/college student named Sylvie Russo (played by Elle Fanning) and folk singer Joan Baez (played by Monica Barbaro), who was a star on the rise when she first met Bob. Idealistic and vulnerable Sylvie wants to have a “normal life,” while independent and confident Joan most certainly does not want this type of “normalcy” as a well-known artist and activist.

Bob meets Sylvie during a church service. They have an instant attraction to each other and begin dating immediately. In real life, the character of Sylvie Russo was really Suze Rotolo, who was photographed walking down a street with Dylan for the cover of Dylan’s 1963 breakthrough album “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.” In this album cover photo, the body language between the then-couple is an indication that the relationship wasn’t going to last: Dylan and Rotolo are walking with their arms locked, but Rotolo is leaning in close to Bob in a snuggling manner, while Dylan is looking down, with his hands in his trouser pockets.

In the movie, Sylvie is portrayed as Bob’s first major love (Bob eventually moves in with Sylvie), but she’s frustrated by his aloofness and his refusal to talk about his past or his family, while she has been open with him about all of the things abut herself that she wants to know about him. A turning point comes when Sylvie goes away for a trip to Rome. And during this trip, Bob becomes intimately involved with Joan after they meet at a nightclub and start a flirtation that is eventually consummated.

Joan’s manager Albert Grossman (played by Dan Fogler) eventually sees Bob’s talent and quickly signs on to be Bob’s manager too. “A Complete Unknown” somewhat over-simplifies the process of how Bob got a record deal with Columbia Records. One minute, Bob is his manager and some record company people see Bob performing at a nightclub. Not long after that, Bob gets signed to Columbia Records after doing an audition, where he casually showed up more than one hour late.

The movie briefly depicts Bob’s frustrations when his first album (1962’s “Bob Dylan”) is a flop, while Joan continues to be a hit-making artist. “A Complete Unknown” acknowledges and portrays the huge influence that Joan had on Bob’s career, as she frequently brought him on stage to perform with her when he was still a fairly unknown artist. Chalamet and Barbaro’s charismatic duet performances as Bob and Joan are among the movie’s best standout scenes.

The power dynamic between Bob and Joan is interesting to watch in the movie because who seduced whom is left open to interpretation. Certainly, Bob enjoyed the perks of Joan’s help in his career, but there are many indications that he eventually expected to surpass her in artistic and hitmaking importance. It’s left mostly unspoken, but the performances show that Joan having more power and fame early in the relationship was something that Bob both liked and feared. He would insult her artistic talent to her face, perhaps as a way to soothe his ego and feel like he wasn’t just being a “boy toy” to Joan.

“A Complete Unknown” spends some time showing how Bob was able to juggle his on-again/off-again relationships with Sylvie and Joan during this time period, until neither relationship became sustainable. Each woman knew about the other but didn’t really want to get in any major confrontations with each other about it. Sylvie becomes increasingly insecure when she begins to understand that she’s not cut out to be the love partner of a celebrity. Joan has her own issues with Bob, who seems to love Joan but he’s competitive with her.

“A Complete Unknown” depicts Bob as being less concerned what his girlfriends think of him and much more concerned about the opinions of his mentor Pete and another musician whom Bob greatly admires: rebellious country singer Johnny Cash (played by Boyd Holbrook), nicknamed the Man in Black. Johnny shows up in the movie from time to time to give Bob encouragement and advice. The movie portrays Bob and Johnny becoming pen pals after Johnny sent Bob a note saying that “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” was Johnny’s “most prized possession.”

When Bob meets Johnny at the 1963 Monterey Folk Festival, Bob is just as star-struck as when he met Woody, but at this point Bob is famous and is very self-conscious about “playing it cool” for the Man in Black. The movie’s dialogue for Johnny tends to be more like soundbites than meaningful dialogue. (Johnny tells Bob to surprise people and “make a mess” of people’s expectations.) “A Complete Unknown” also downplays the drug use that happened in real life, by showing only brief references to Bob smoking marijuana and Johnny’s addictions to amphetamines and alcohol.

Pete gets much more screen time than Johnny because Pete was a more permanent presence in Bob’s life. Pete is depicted as a happily married family man who is generally open-minded and laid-back. However, one thing he is fiercely passionate about is the idea that Bob should remain true to his folk roots and not experiment with any other type of music. Pete and many others in the folk music industry feel strongly that it would be a major betrayal if Bob turned his back on folk music to perform rock music.

“A Complete Unknown” is a feast for viewers who want to see scenes of Bob performing on stage and in recording studios. Dylan classics such as “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “These Times They Are A-Changing” and Like a Rolling Stone” are among the songs that get rousing showcases. However, the movie’s editing often places these performances in between dialogue-heavy scenes so that these performances look like chunks of music videos dropped into this biopic drama. It doesn’t ruin the movie, but the musical sequences could have flowed a little better. “A Complete Unknown” should keep viewers interested if they are already inclined to like Dylan’s music, while it might take others a little longer to feel engaged with this 140-minute movie.

What’s most impressive about “A Complete Unknown” is how Chalamet, Barbaro, Norton and Holbrook are able to perform as Dylan, Baez, Seeger and Cash in ways that look natural and not like “try-hard” impersonations. The movie avoids being a hagiography because it portrays Dylan as flawed and self-centered, with his quest to be an “important” artist as the highest priority in his life. Most superstar entertainers have these qualities before, during and after their ambitions to make it to the top of their profession. However, many have mixed feelings about fame and are often unprepared for the problems that come with being a celebrity. “A Complete Unknown” touches on Bob’s discomfort with fame, but because the movie ends in 1965, “A Complete Unknown” can only be snapshot of a certain period of Dylan’s life and not his complete story.

Searchlight Pictures will release “A Complete Unknown” in U.S. cinemas on December 25, 2024.

Review: ‘Nightbitch,’ starring Amy Adams and Scoot McNairy

December 2, 2024

by Carla Hay

“Nightbitch”

Directed by Marielle Heller

Some language in German with no subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed U.S. city, the dramatic film “Nightbitch” (based on the novel of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Asians and Latin people) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A frustrated and overwhelmed married homemaker, who has almost all the responsibility of caring for her 2-year-old son, finds out that she has a secret side to her that comes out at night.

Culture Audience: “Nightbitch” will appeal primarily to are fans of the movie’s headliners and people who are interested in offbeat dramas about the stresses of parenthood from a female perspective.

Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy and Arleigh Patrick Snowden or Emmett James Snowden in “Nightbitch” (Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

“Nightbitch” is wildly uneven but also very compelling in its portrayal of motherhood frustrations. Amy Adams gives the type of performance that makes it hard to look away, even when some of this psychological drama occasionally goes off the rails. “Nightbitch” can only be recommended to viewers who are open-minded enough to go with some of the movie’s fantasy elements that are eventually revealed.

Written and directed by Marielle Heller, “Nightbitch” is based on Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel of the same name. “Nightbitch” had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie is mostly a drama, but it has elements of fantasy, horror and dark comedy. In “Nightbitch,” Adams plays an unnamed woman (identified only as Mother in the end credits), who is a homemaker and the primary caregiver for her 2-year-old son, who also doesn’t have a name in the movie. Identical twins Arleigh Patrick Snowden and Emmett James Snowden have the role as the son.

This mother is married to a workaholic man, who also is unnamed in the movie. He is identified only as Husband in the end credits. Scoot McNairy portrays this character, who is often busy working and very oblivious to all the stresses that his wife goes through as a homemaker and primary caregiver for their son, who is very energetic and demanding. It’s later revealed that this mother used to be a professional painter artist but gave up her career to be a stay-at-home mother. She is having doubts that she made the right decision.

There’s not much more that can be said about the “Nightbitch” plot except to say that this mother has a lot of pent-up rage. She also finds out that she has a side to herself that comes out at night. As seen in the trailer for “Nightbitch,” there are hints about what this secret side is when the mother starts to see fur-like hair growing in unusual places on her body. She also starts to have certain cravings for food (such as huge chunks of raw meat) that are usually enjoyed by non-human animals.

One of the reasons why the mother in “Nightbitch” feels stifled and trapped is because her social life used to revolve around her work as an artist. Now that she’s a stay-at-home mother, she feels isolated and restless. A local library has a reading activity group called Book Babies for parents and their preschool kids. The mother feels like a misfit at these gatherings because the other parents (almost all of them are mothers) look like they love being there with their kids, while the “misfit” mother feels uncomfortable and awkward.

Three of the other Book Babies mothers approach her one day and try to start a friendly conversation with her. Their names are Jen (played by Zoë Chao), Miriam (played Mary Holland) and Liz (played by Archana Rajan), but the mother is a little bit wary and standoffish. She thinks these other mothers are a little too cheerful for her liking and doesn’t seem to want to become friends with them.

Meanwhile, the “misfit” mother has flashback memories to her childhood, when her German-speaking mother (played by Kerry O’Malley) seemed to be involved in some mysterious rituals. Michaela Baham has the role of the “misfit” mother when she was a child. These childhood scenes are also obvious signs that whatever is “different” about her, her own mother knew about it and probably had something to do with it.

As an adult, the “misfit” mother continues to see changes in her body and notices that she has a heightened sense of smell. Trying to make sense of it all, the “misfit” mother goes to the library and finds a book called “A Field Guide to Magical Women,” with the help of a librarian named Norma (played by Jessica Harper), who has noticed the “misfit” mother’s discontent. This book has an impact on the “misfit” mother’s way of thinking.

“Nightbitch” might test the patience of viewers after the secret side of the mother is revealed, because the movie’s plot then becomes meandering and unsure of where it wants to go before it races to an ending that will get mixed reactions from viewers. The ending of the film has a jarringly different tone than the rest of the movie. At times, “Nightbitch” looks like it would’ve been better as a short film. But the movie has good-intentioned messages about appreciating mothers who are often underappreciated, even though the story is told in a way that can be erratic and somewhat gimmicky.

Searchlight Pictures will release “Nightbitch” in select U.S. cinemas on December 6, 2024. Hulu will premiere the movie on December 27, 2024.

Review: ‘Speak No Evil’ (2024), starring James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough and Scoot McNairy

September 14, 2024

by Carla Hay

Alix West Lefler, Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis in “Speak No Evil” (Photo by Susie Allnutt/Universal Pictures)

“Speak No Evil” (2024)

Directed by James Watkins

Culture Representation: Taking place in England (and briefly in Italy), the horror film “Speak No Evil” (a remake of the 2022 Danish film of the same name) features an almost all-white group of people (with one person of Middle Eastern heritage) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: While on vacation in Italy, an American family meets a British family, and later experience terror as guests in the British family’s home.

Culture Audience: “Speak No Evil” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of 2022’s “Speak No Evil” and “slow burn” psychological thrillers with action-packed endings.

Dan Hough, Aisling Franciosi and James McAvoy in “Speak No Evil” (Photo by Susie Allnutt/Universal Pictures)

The 2024 version of “Speak No Evil” (based on the 2022 Danish horror film of the same name) is a rare Hollywood remake that’s better than the original film. A major plot hole still remains, but this remake has more suspense and a more satisfying ending. The characters in this remake are also better-developed, with many more questions answered that the original “Speak No Evil” film left unanswered.

Written and directed by James Watkins, “Speak No Evil” starts off looking like it will be almost a carbon copy of the Danish version of the movie. The opening scene, just like the Danish version of “Speak No Evil,” shows a family of three driving to their remote rural farmhouse, but the home is in England, not in Holland. The family consists of Patrick “Paddy” Feld (played by James McAvoy), Ciara Feld (played by Aisling Franciosi) and an 11-year-old son named Ant (played by Dan Hough), who is mute and very introverted. Paddy and Ciara tell people that Ant is mute because Ant has congenital ankyloglossia, which is the medical term for being born with a very short or stunted tongue.

While on vacation at the same resort in Italy, this family of three eventually meet and invite another family of three to their home, where the terror ensues. The invited family in the 2024 version of “Speak No Evil” is an American clan living in London. In the 2022 version of “Speak No Evil,” the family doing the inviting is Dutch, while the invited family is Danish. The 2024 version of “Speak No Evil” does a great job of adding extra layers of insecurities to the American couple—they’re having marital problems, they’re experiencing financial uncertainty, and they don’t have a close support group of friends and family in London—all of which make it more believable that the American couple would be more vulnerable to being lured into a trap set by killers disguised as a friendly couple.

The family of three Americans are Ben Dalton (played by Scoot McNairy); his wife Louise Dalton (played by Mackenzie Davis); and their 11-year-old daughter Agnes Dalton (played by Alix West Lefler), who is unusually attached to her stuffed bunny rabbit toy named Hoppy, which she wants to take everywhere she goes. Agnes in the 2022 version of “Speak No Evil” also had the same fixation on her stuffed bunny toy (which was named Ninus), but the parents didn’t try to ease her out of this attachment, which borders on a little unhealthy on a psychological/emotional maturity level. In the 2024 version, Agnes’ psychological arrested development is addressed head-on because Ben tells Agnes that by Agnes’ 12th birthday, Hoppy will have to be in another room when Agnes sleeps.

In both “See No Evil” movies, the couples meet at the vacation resort’s swimming pool when the victim spouses are sunning themselves next to an unoccupied lounge chair and the deceptive “alpha male” of the evil couple (in this case, Paddy) asks if he can use the chair. Ben and Louise politely says yes. A vacation acquaintance then ensues between the two families, who spend the rest of their time in Italy hanging out with each other.

During a couple’s meal together at the resort, Paddy says he’s a retired medical doctor. Ciara is a homemaker. She says that they live in a rural farmhouse in England, and Paddy is much happier since he gave up his medical practice. Paddy and Ciara tell Ben and Louise that they’re welcome to visit and stay anytime at Paddy and Ciara’s place.

Ben opens up about his current career problems. Ben, Louise and Agnes had moved to London because the Chicago-based company he worked for wanted Ben to open a London office there. However, the company cancelled those plans. Ben was laid off with a severance package, but he’s having a difficult time finding another job in London.

Louise worked in public relations when she lived in the United States, but she’s also been unable to find a job in London. Ben and Louise like London, which is why they’ve decided to continue living there. In the 2022 version of “Speak No Evil,” the only mention of jobs and careers is evil husband saying that he’s a retired medical doctor.

During the two families’ time in Italy, Agnes loses Hoppy somewhere outside the resort. Ben looks for the toy, but Paddy is the one who finds Hoppy. It’s a change from the 2022 version of “Speak No Evil,” where the father of Agnes was the one who found the rabbit toy.

By having Paddy find the toy, it brings a more believable scenario in which Paddy is able to establish trust with the Dalton family. Paddy becomes a “hero” to Agnes, who readily agrees to Paddy’s offer to give her a quick ride on his motor scooter. Later on in the movie, when Hoppy goes missing multiple times, Agnes’ attachment to Hoppy (and Paddy manipulating that attachment) will confirm the obvious: Paddy is probably responsible for taking Hoppy every time this bunny toy goes missing.

The Dalton family returns to London a few months after their trip to Italy. Ben and Louise get a postcard from Paddy and Ciara. The front of the postcard is a photo of the Feld and Dalton families together during their vacation in Italy. The postcard is an invitation for Ben, Louise and Agnes to visit and stay at the farmhouse where Paddy, Ciara and Ant live. Louise is a little hesitant but Ben convinces her it’ll be a good idea to get away again for a while and explore these new friendships.

The trip to the Feld family home starts out in an amiable manner. But then, Paddy and Ciara begin to test the boundaries of Ben and Louise. Just like in both “Speak No Evil” movies, Louise is pressured into eating red meat, even though she says she’s a vegetarian. Louise is actually a pescatarian because she says she eats fish. Paddy insults her for being hypocritical for calling herself a vegetarian when she actually eats fish.

There are other boundaries crossed and inappropriateness, usually initiated by Paddy, that have to do with child rearing and public displays of affection between adults. Both movies have a scene where the predator couple invites the victim couple to a family dinner outing at a restaurant but announce on short notice that the kids aren’t going on this outing. Instead, the kids will be looked after by a disheveled man named Muhjid (played by Motaz Malhees), who is described by Paddy and Ciara as a trusted babysitter in the neighborhood.

Louise (who is more likely than Ben to notice things that are off-kilter) is very wary about letting this stranger babysit Agnes. However, Ben acts as if she’s being uptight, so Louise reluctantly agrees to let Agnes and Ant be alone with Muhjid. At the restaurant, Paddy and Ciara ramp up the discomfort level by engaging in a sex act at the table during the meal. In the 2022 version of “Speak No Evil” the predator couple didn’t go that far and were just overly touchy-feely while dancing in front of the victim couple at the restaurant. In both movies, by the end of dinner, the predator husband expects the victim husband to pay the bill.

Both movies also have a scene where the husbands do some outdoor primal screaming as a way to bond with each other when they’re alone together. Both movies have the predator mother being overbearing in telling Agnes what to do, while the victim mother verbally gets annoyed by this overstepping of parental bounds. Both movies have a scene where the kids do a dance for their parents, and the predator father gets physically abusive with the son, much to the horror of the victim parents. But the biggest thing that both “Speak No Evil” movies have in common is in showing how not speaking up or not doing anything about things that are clearly wrong can have deadly consequences.

In other ways, there are gender dynamics that affect what happen, since Louise is constantly made to feel like she’s being “paranoid” or “unreasonable” if she speaks up about something that is inappropriate, which is why women are more likely than men to be insulted as “crazy” or “hysterical.” Meanwhile, Louise thinks Ben is too trusting and too passive, but he thinks he’s being open-minded and laid-back cool. Louise tells Ben more than once that she wants to leave, but he usually talks her out of it. Paddy and Ciara also put Ben and Louise on a guilt trip over wanting to leave. Ciara and Paddy convince Louise and Ben to stay by making a “confession” that probably isn’t true.

Because the trailers for the 2024 version of “Speak No Evil” already reveal that Paddy is the chief menace of the Feld family, the only real suspense is in finding out who will live and who will die at the end of the movie. McAvoy’s performance at times veers into campiness, but it remains effectively creepy throughout the film. Davis gives a very compelling performance as the heroic counterpoint to Paddy. In the relationship between Ben and Louise, this wife is more outspoken and proactive than the husband, just like Paddy is more outspoken and more proactive than Ciara.

The Feld family secrets are revealed in a way that is much more realistic than how the Danish version of the movie reveals the secrets of the villainous couple. The biggest plot hole (which is the same in both “Speak No Evil” movies) has to do with how long this evil couple was able to keep these secrets without other people getting suspicious and investigating. A few of the action scenes at the end of the 2024 version of “Speak No Evil” are somewhat formulaic. However, the ending of the 2024 version is a vast improvement from the 2022 version and should please viewers who have the patience to watch the buildup to this tension-filled finale.

Universal Pictures released “Speak No Evil” in U.S. cinemas on September 13, 2024. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on October 1, 2024.

Review: ‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,’ starring Javier Bardem, Constance Wu and the voice of Shawn Mendes

October 6, 2022

by Carla Hay

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile”

Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City, the comedy musical film “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Asians, African Americans and Latinos) representing the middle-class and working-class.

Culture Clash: When a flamboyant vaudeville performer suddenly has to leave home to go on tour, he leaves his singing crocodile behind in his New York City home, where a new family moves in, keeps the crocodile as a pet, and gets in trouble for it by a neighbor who wants the crocodile out of this residential neighborhood.

Culture Audience: “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” will appeal primarily to fans of Bernard Haber’s 1965 book of the same name and family-friendly movies that dumb down the original source material.

Javier Bardem in “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” (Photo by Fernando Decillis/Columbia Pictures)

Simple-minded to a fault, the trite comedy “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” fails to do justice to Bernard Waber’s charming children’s book. The original songs are the best aspects of this dull and vapid movie, which relentlessly insults viewers’ intelligence. There’s so much tedious formula in the movie’s screenplay and so much lazy editing, it’s obvious that more thought and imagination were put into crafting the songs rather than putting an innovative cinematic spin on a beloved children’s book.

Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” looks like the filmmakers decided to just coast on the name recognition of the “Lyle the Crocodile” book series and put some famous people in the movie’s cast as a way to fool audiences into thinking that it would be a reasonably good film. It’s not. Will Davies wrote the very lazy and unimaginative “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” screenplay. Apparently, the “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” filmmakers think that “child-oriented entertainment” is supposed to be “stupid entertainment.”

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” (which takes place in New York City) begins by introducing vaudeville performer Hector P. Valenti (played by Javier Bardem), who can be a fast-talking, hustling con artist when he has to be. Hector will say and do anything to make quick money from whatever he can do in showbiz. In the movie’s opening scene, Hector fails an audition to be a magician on a TV talent show called “Show Us What You’ve Got.”

Hector soon meets a smaller-than-usual adult crocodile that he names Lyle, which he buys from a pet store called Eddie’s Exotic Animals. Hector (who is bachelor with no children) brings Lyle home to live with him as a pet. Never mind that in real life, you just can’t walk into a pet store and buy a crocodile, because that type of animal sale in a pet store is illegal. And it’s also illegal in New York City and most other U.S. cities to keep a crocodile as a pet in a private, residential home. This lack of realism is not this movie’s biggest problem.

At first, Hector thinks he’s just going to have the crocodile as part of Hector’s mediocre magician act. But then, Hector finds out that Lyle can sing. And the next thing you know, Lyle and Hector become a performing duo. Lyle is the main attraction, while Hector is the emcee. The duo’s act become a big hit.

But their good fortune comes to an abrupt halt when Lyle unexpectedly loses his singing voice while on stage. Hector calls it a “minor setback,” and he decides he’ll have to go on tour as a solo act to make some money. While Hector is away from home, he keeps Lyle hidden in the attic. Hector leaves Lyle behind with nothing but a book of songs.

Although “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is lightweight entertainment, the movie irresponsibly glosses over some issues that should have been addressed in the movie. Lyle (who looks very sad to see Hector go) essentially has to fend for himself when locked up in the home. It’s a form of animal cruelty. Because it isn’t made clear how long Hector will be away, it’s very likely Lyle was going to run out of food.

And apparently, Hector was away for so long, another family moved into what the family thought was an unoccupied house. The real-estate situation in this story is very murky and purposely vague, ignoring real-life details such as house inspections and home appraisals that home owners usually have to go through before buying or renting out a home. It’s also never really clear why or how this house went on the market. There’s some real-estate talk rushed in toward the end of the movie to conveniently explain something to make a problem go away, but it’s all so ridiculous and phony.

Hector eventually comes home and finds out another family is living there, and these new residents have found Lyle. And eventually (as shown in the movie’s trailer), Hector joins in on some of the shenanigans involving Lyle and the family trying to prevent Lyle from being confiscated by animal welfare authorities. Hector should’ve thought of that when he left a crocodile home alone for who knows how long.

But there would be no “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” movie if people acted with common sense. At any rate, you already know where this story is going if you’re familiar with the “Lyle the Crocodile” book series, or if you’ve seen enough movies were an animal befriends a lonely, misfit child, but a miserable adult wants to break up the friendship by taking the animal away. Predictable stories can be entertaining if delivered with some unique flair, but “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” lacks a lot of creativity in the movie’s dialogue and action scenes.

The family that ends up sharing living space with Lyle consists of married couple Mr. Primm (played by Scoot McNairy), Mrs. Primm (played by Constance Wu) and their son Josh Primm (played by Winslow Fegley), who’s about 12 or 13 years old. Most of the adults in the movie do not have first names. And they also don’t have anything memorable to say.

Josh isn’t happy about this move to a new home, because he liked living in the unnamed suburbs where the family used to live. Joe complains out loud that most people move to the suburbs to get away from the city, and he doesn’t understand why his parents wanted to do the opposite. Get used to seeing Josh being a bit of a whiny brat, because that’s apparently why he needs a talking and singing crocodile to teach him how to be a better human being.

Josh has problems fitting in at his new school. He doesn’t excel at anything in particular, and he has a hard time making friends. He’s on the school’s wrestling team, where he frequently loses in practice matches. Guess who’s going to get Josh to do things that are outside of Josh’s comfort zone to experience things that will build up Josh’s confidence? Josh also predictably befriends a neighborhood girl named Kara Delany (played by Lyric), a generic character who’s only in the movie to give Josh someone else to hang out with besides Lyle.

Before Josh and Lyle become friends, Lyle and Josh get off to a rough start, when Josh at first thinks that this crocodile is a pesky nuisance. There are some not-very-funny slapstick scenes of Lyle escaping from the house and causing some mischief. In one scene, Lyle accidentally swallows a neighbor’s pet cat, but then Lyle ends up vomiting up the cat unharmed.

Eventually, Mr. and Mrs. Primm find out about Lyle, who charms almost every human he meets with his upbeat singing. Mr. Primm is a laid-back teacher at a private middle school for girls, who wear matching school uniforms. Mrs. Primm is a cookbook author who is frustrated that she put her career on hold to raise Josh. Expect to see some tedious and predictable scenes involving Mrs. Primm’s cooking skills and Lyle.

The story’s “villain” is Mr. Grumps (played by Brett Gelman), who finds out about Lyle and is outraged that there’s a crocodile living as a pet in a residential building. Mr. Grumps is determined to have Lyle removed and taken away from the home. Apparently, Mr. Grumps didn’t get the memo that crocodiles aren’t dangerous if they can sing human songs.

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” doesn’t have much of a story and attempts to fill this void with several performances of songs written for the movie. Oscar-winning songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“La La Land”) wrote most of the original songs in “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Other songwriters who contributed to the movie’s original tunes include Mendes, Joriah Kwamé, Emily Gardner Xu Hall, Mark Sonnenblick and Arianna Asfar. Pasek, Paul and Matthew Margeson co-wrote the movie’s original score.

Even with all this songwriting talent, there’s nothing award-worthy about the movie’s music, which is far from Pasek and Paul’s best work. Songs like “Take a Look at Us Now” (a Mendes/Bardem duet), “Carried Away,” “Rip Up the Recipe” (a Mendes/Wu duet) and “Top of the World” are pleasant, but also instantly forgettable. Pasek and Paul wrote original songs for 2017’s “The Greatest Showman,” which had a lot of memorable and catchy tunes, regardless of how people felt about the movie’s screenplay.

The “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” filmmakers also made the odd decision not to have “best friends” Lyle and Josh perform a duet, which would have given this movie more emotional resonance. Fegley is one of the main characters in the movie, but he doesn’t even have a moment in the movie to shine in the spotlight as a singer, in the way that Bardem and Wu have their respective duets with Mendes. As it stands, so much of “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” looks and sounds assembly-line formulaic. There’s very little soul to be found in this hollow film.

Bardem seems to be having some fun hamming it up in his song-and-dance scenes, but that’s not saying much, because he’s not a great singer or dancer. He’s not terrible, just not superb. The computer-generated animation for Lyle doesn’t have much of a charismatic personality, especially when Lyle loses his singing voice for a large chunk of the story. Mendes is bland and bland can be in this role.

Fegley does a version of the many misfit kid characters that he’s played in movies. McNairy and Wu look like they’re just going through the motions and reciting lines of dialogue. Gelman is nothing but a caricature villain. Everything in this movie is cliché-ridden, very corny, and not very funny for a movie that’s supposed to be a comedy.

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” drags on and on with silly scenarios until the movie’s inevitable conclusion. (And yes, there’s a predictable scene where Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock” is performed by members of the cast.) In real life, crocodiles spend a lot of time in water. “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is so watered-down with banality, it’s washed away any outstanding qualities that this disappointing movie could have had.

Columbia Pictures will release “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” in U.S. cinemas on October 7, 2022.

Review: ‘C’mon C’mon,’ starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann and Woody Norman

November 19, 2021

by Carla Hay

“C’mon C’mon”

Directed by Mike Mills

Culture Representation: Taking place in various U.S. cities (including Los Angeles, New York City and New Orleans), the dramatic film “C’mon C’mon” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and Latinos) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A never-married, middle-aged bachelor, who works as a radio producer, finds out for the first time in his life what it feels like to be a parent when he takes care of his estranged sister’s 9-year-old son for an extended period of time.

Culture Audience: “C’mon C’mon” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching emotionally intimate, well-acted movies about family relationships.

Woody Norman and Gaby Hoffmann in “C’mon C’mon” (Photo by Tobin Yelland/A24)

What does “family” mean to you? The answer depends on who’s answering the question. The dramatic film “C’mon C’mon” (written and directed by Mike Mills) is an emotional portrait of three family members coming to terms with their individual identities and what the concept of “family” means to them. The movie also takes an equally impactful, broader look at children’s various perspectives of the world, because the male lead character (who’s a radio producer) travels across the U.S. to interview children about the world for his radio show.

As the three family members who go through various ups and downs in the story, Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann and Woody Norman give noteworthy performances that will make more than a few viewers shed some tears, but not in a manipulative, melodramatic way. The acting in the movie looks natural and somewhat effortless. In some ways, “C’mon C’mon” is a road trip movie, but the real journey is how the three main characters discover new things about each other and themselves.

“C’mon C’mon,” whose cinematography is entirely in black and white, was filmed from November 2019 to January 2020, before the COVID-19 virus infection rate turned into a pandemic. However, the movie seemingly aims not to identify the story by any particular year in the early 21st century. “C’mon C’mon” made the rounds at a few film festivals (such as the Telluride Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival and New York Film Festival), because of the movie’s pedigree as an awards contender. The entire story of “C’mon C’mon” takes a low-key approach, so don’t expect extreme plot developments or surprising twists to happen.

In the movie, Phoenix is a radio producer named Johnny, who lives in New York City, but he travels a lot because of his job. Johnny is a never-married bachelor in his 40s, he has no children, and he’s currently not dating anyone. Later on in the film, it’s revealed that Johnny hasn’t had a special love in his life for quite some time. He’s essentially “married” to his work. He’s good at his job, but he doesn’t seem emotionally attached to anyone. That’s about to change.

Johnny is currently working on a series that interviews children from all over the United States. In the interviews, Johnny asks them things such as “What do you think about the future?” or “What scares you?” or “What makes you angry?” Sometimes, the children are interviewed with their parents in the room, while other times no adults are in the room except Johnny and a co-worker. Throughout the movie, various children are shown being interviewed by Johnny. Most times, they appear on screen, but other times, Johnny is seen playing back snippets of these audio interviews.

“C’mon C’mon” opens in Detroit, where Johnny is doing some of these interviews. A 13-year-old girl who’s being interviewed says that adults have to pay more attention to what’s around them. Throughout the movie, many of the children’s comments express a hopeful but concerned outlook on life. Many of the kids worry about some of the problems that they have to deal with (a decaying environment, racism, economic insecurities) that they think will become heavier burdens when they are adults.

One day, when he’s in a hotel room, Johnny gets a call from his estranged younger sister Viv (played by Hoffmann), who is is only sibling. Viv, who is a single mother living in Los Angeles, has called to tell Johnny that she needs him to come to Los Angeles to temporarily take care of her 9-year-old son Jesse (played by Norman), who barely knows Johnny. Viv explains that Jesse’s father Paul (played by Scoot McNairy), who moved to Oakland (which is about 370 miles north of Los Angeles), is going through some personal issues, and Viv wants to be there for Paul. Viv and Paul (who were never married) are no longer a couple, and she has sole custody of Jesse.

The conversation is polite but strained. There’s obvious tension between Johnny and Viv, which they don’t want to get into over the phone. However, it’s revealed in this phone call that Johnny and Viv have some lingering resentment toward each other over their mother, who died about a year ago after an extended period of being in ill health. Eventually, viewers find out that Johnny and Viv disagreed over how their mother should be cared for in her final months of life and whether or not taking her off of life support should be an option.

Johnny agrees to put some of his work on hold to go to Los Angeles and look after Jesse. When he arrives at Viv’s home, Jesse is shy with Johnny, an uncle he hasn’t seen for years. However, Jesse is aware that Viv and Johnny have barely spoken to each other and have had an estranged relationship for quite some time. And this family discord isn’t just because of Johnny and Viv’s mother.

The tension between Viv and Johnny is also because Johnny disapproves of Paul. Not everything about Viv and Paul’s history with each other is revealed, but enough comes out in conversations for viewers to find out why Johnny considers Paul to be a disruptive force in their family. It’s implied that Johnny never really thought that Paul was good enough for Viv, especially because of the emotional pain she went through by being in a relationship with Paul.

Paul has bipolar disorder, which is not specifically said out loud in the movie, but it’s implied based on his symptoms and other clues in the movie. For example, Jesse has a children’s book called “The Bipolar Bear Family: When a Parent Has Bipolar Disorder,” written by Angela Ann Holloway. Paul has been in a psychiatric facility before to get treatment for his mental illness.

Paul apparently doesn’t have any close relatives who can look after him, because Viv seems to be the only person in his life who’s taken on the responsibility of getting him the treatment that he needs. And because Paul and Viv were never married and are no longer a couple, it explains the murky situation that comes about when Viv has to make certain decisions about Paul’s medical care. Paul is shown briefly in the movie in present-day scenes and in flashbacks.

Paul is a symphony musician, who moved to the San Francisco Bay Area because he wanted to work for the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. As Viv explains to Johnny, “the transition fucked him up,” and Paul is having some kind of breakdown. Viv needs to go to the San Francisco Bay Area to see about convincing Paul to check himself into another mental health facility again. She would rather that he get treatment voluntarily, because she doesn’t want to be the one to force him into an involuntary admission to a psychiatric institution.

Meanwhile, Jesse is aware that his father has bioplar disorder, but no one in the family has ever told him any specific details about why Paul’s illness is severe enough that he has to get in-patient treatment for it. (The word “suicidal” is never mentioned to Jesse, but it’s implied that Paul has been a danger to himself.) All Jesse knows is that his father sometimes has to go into a hospital when he has another episode that needs treatment. The stigma of mental illness is realistically portrayed in “C’mon C’mon,” as something that family members feel secret guilt or shame about, because they often try to hide or deny the illness.

During the course of the movie, Viv has to stay in the San Francisco Bay Area longer than she expected. And so, Johnny ends up taking care of Jesse for longer than Johnny expected. The majority of “C’mon C’mon” is about how Johnny and Jesse’s uncle/nephew relationship evolves to the point where Johnny becomes the closet thing that Jesse has to a father figure. At one point, Johnny contemplates whether or not he should move to Los Angeles.

Johnny’s caretaking of Jesse doesn’t happen in one, long continuous stretch. There’s a point in the movie where Viv returns to Los Angeles and then has to go back to the Bay Area again, but Johnny can’t be in Los Angeles because of work commitments. Jesse begs Viv to let him stay with Johnny in New York City and then travel with Johnny on the job. Johnny and Jesse’s travels are not spoiler details, because they’re shown in the movie’s trailers.

Jesse is a precocious and curious child who loves to read. Viv encourages Jesse to be a free thinker and allows him to question things. It’s why Jesse asks Johnny some questions that make Jesse uncomfortable, such as why Johnny isn’t married. Johnny says that he was with someone named Louisa, but she broke up with him. Johnny says he still loves Louisa, who is not seen in the movie.

One question that’s harder for Johnny to answer is why he and Viv stopped talking to each other for a long time. Johnny tactfully explains to Jesse that it’s because he and Viv couldn’t agree on the caregiving for their dying mother. The mother’s cause of death is never mentioned in the movie, but there are flashback scenes of Viv and Johnny visiting their mother on her deathbed.

There were resentments and jealousies between the two siblings before their mother got sick. Viv always felt that she never got the full approval of her mother and that Johnny was the favored child. Johnny felt like Viv’s tension with their mother was the reason why Viv seemed to not be as compassionate with their dying mother as Johnny thinks Viv should have been.

Johnny doesn’t want to badmouth Viv to Jesse, so he doesn’t tell Jesse these things. However, Johnny and Viv do confront their bitter feelings for each other with arguments over the phone. Paul’s current mental breakdown has also triggered bad memories of when Johnny told Viv to break up with Paul in the past, when Viv wasn’t ready to end the relationship. Viv thinks that Johnny meddled too much in her relationship with Paul.

Soon after Johnny begins taking care of Jesse, Jesse tells Johnny that Viv correctly predicted that Johnny would be a little awkward with Jesse, but that Johnny will eventually get used to Jesse. During the time that Johnny spends with Jesse, he finds out that taking care of a child is a lot harder than he thought it would be. Viv has certain bedtime rituals for Jesse that Jesse wants Johnny to do too. Jesse also shows signs of hyperactivity, so Johnny calls Viv for advice on how to get Jesse to go to sleep.

Another thing that Johnny has to learn is how to be a responsible caregiver when it comes to children’s meals. Like a typical bachelor who lives alone and travels frequently, Johnny has a refrigerator that is not stocked with much that’s appropriate for a child. When Johnny takes Jesse with him to go grocery shopping, Johnny gets a scare when Jesse wanders off and Johnny frantically tries to find him.

The movie shows in a lot of tender and quiet moments how this uncle and nephew eventually learn to trust each other, like each other, and eventually become friends with each other. Johnny and Jesse find out that that they have a lot more in common than they originally thought. They both love Viv but they both dislike how she lets Paul’s problems consume her. Johnny and Jesse are also more comfortable talking about things outside of themselves rather than their innermost feelings. When Johnny tries to interview Jesse for his radio show, Jesse is very reluctant and says no.

However, Jesse notices that Johnny likes to make audio diaries, so Jesse starts making his own audio diaries too. Johnny also shows Jesse how to operate Johnny’s professional audio equipment. There’s an adorable scene that takes place on California’s Venice Beach where Johnny and Jesse discover that Jesse not only likes operating this equipment, he could end up having a passion for radio. When Jesse arrives in New York City, Johnny introduces Jesse to two other radio producers who work closely with Johnny: Roxanne (played by Molly Webster) and Fern (played by Jaboukie Young-White), who are both very friendly to Jesse.

One of the most effective aspects of “C’mon C’mon” is how unpretentious it is in showing that learning and protection between adults and children can go both ways. Too often, dramas with a story of an adult taking care of a child for the first time will put an emphasis on what the adult is going to teach the child. However, “C’mon C’mon” shows that Johnny learns a lot from the children he’s in contact with, whether it’s someone he met briefly during an interview, or a nephew who turns out to be a special and unexpected friend. The movie has a pivotal scene in New Orleans that’s an example of how powerful a child’s emotional protection and wisdom can be.

The black-and-white cinematography gives “C’mon C’mon” a timeless vibe to it that looks best in the New York City scenes. In other scenes, such as in the vibrancy of a New Orleans street parade or in the sunny glow of Venice Beach, some viewers might wish that the movie had been in color. The movie’s lack of color doesn’t take away from the exemplary performances and screenplay for “C’mon C’mon,” which have such authenticity, it will resonate with viewers.

In “C’mon C’mon,” Phoenix gives an understated and nuanced performance as a “regular guy” (the type of character that he usually doesn’t play), who finds out from a child that he’s not as emotionally mature as he thought he was. In the role of perceptive Jesse, Norman gives a breakout performance that will stand as one of the best from a child actor in a 2021 movie. Hoffmann brings heartache and grit to her performance as Viv, who feels conflicted and guilty over the messiness in her life, while doing her best to make what she thinks are the right decisions.

“C’mon C’mon” could have been a very sappy movie that goes off in very phony directions. Fortunately, it is not, although some viewers might be a little bored if they’re expecting more exciting action in this movie. As for the movie’s most emotional scenes, there are some genuinely sentimental, tearjerking moments, but this is not a tragic story. There are no over-the-top villains or crazy adventures.

It’s a story grounded in reality about people trying to get through life in the best way that they can. What inspired the title of this movie? It’s from one of Jesse’s audio diary entries, where he says that when unpredictable things happen in life, you just have to “c’mon c’mon.” This human resilience is celebrated eloquently in “C’mon C’mon.”

A24 released “C’mon C’mon” in select U.S. cinemas on November 19, 2021.

Review: ‘A Quiet Place Part II,’ starring Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe and Djimon Hounsou

May 24, 2021

by Carla Hay

“A Quiet Place Part II”

Directed by John Krasinski

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York state and unnamed parts of the U.S. East Coast during a post-apolcalyptic time period, the horror sequel “A Quiet Place Part II” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people) representing the middle-class.

Culture Clash: A widow and her three underage children try to survive giant lizard-like monsters that have taken over Earth, but her eldest child decides to run away from their shelter to find other survivors.

Culture Audience: Besides appealing to the obvious target audience of people who saw 2018’s “A Quiet Place,” the sequel “A Quiet Place Part II” will appeal to people who are interested in watching suspenseful “creature feature” horror films that aren’t too gory.

Cillian Murphy in “A Quiet Place Part II” (Photo by Jonny Cournoyer/Paramount Pictures)

“A Quiet Place Part II” (written and directed by John Krasinski) doesn’t fall into the sequel trap of recycling too much of the same story as its predecessor, but it definitely helps to see the first “A Quiet Place” movie, which was released in 2018. “A Quiet Place Part II” is a more action-oriented thriller than “A Quiet Place,” because so much of the horror in “A Quiet Place Part II” is happening at different locations at the same time. Thanks to skillful film editing from Michael P. Shawver, “A Quiet Place Part II” viewers will often feel like they’re in a dimension where they can experience what’s going on in more than one place simultaenously, as the tension ramps up in each scene.

It’s a big contrast to “A Quiet Place,” which focused on one location at a time, during one family’s fight for survival in an apocalyptic world where giant lizard-mutant-looking aliens have taken over Earth. In “A Quiet Place,” viewers aren’t shown what life for this family was like before the apocalypse. But it’s eventually revealed that the creatures that have invaded Earth and massacred most of the world’s humans are blind and can’t smell but have an extremely acute sense of hearing. Therefore, when outside, apocalypse survivors have to be very quiet because any sound can attract the alien monsters, which show no mercy in devouring any living being.

“A Quiet Place Part II” was made with the assumption that most people seeing the movie have already seen “A Quiet Place” or know what the movie is about, including the spoiler information. This sequel is best appreciated with full knowledge of these details, or else viewers might initially feel a little bit lost or confused by what’s going on in the story. The ending of “A Quiet Place” shows the discovery of a way to fight the monsters, and this defense mechanism is used a lot in “A Quiet Place Part II.” Knowing what happened in “A Quiet Place” goes a long way in explaining key aspects of “A Quiet Place Part II.”

The family at the center of this crisis are the main human characters who were in “A Quiet Place,” which takes place somewhere in the suburbs of upstate New York. The family members are Lee Abbott (played by Krasinski, who directed and co-wrote “A Quiet Place”); Lee’s wife Evelyn Abbott (played by Emily Blunt, who is married to Krasinski in real life); their daughter Regan Abbott (played by Millicent Simmonds); son Marcus Abbott (played by Noah Jupe); and son Beau Abbott (played by Cade Woodward). In “A Quiet Place,” Regan is about 12 or 13 years old, Marcus is about 10 or 11 years old, and Beau is about 5 or 6 years old.

In “A Quiet Place,” the Abbotts spend most of their days in a remote, abandoned farmhouse that has an underground bunker rigged with ways to alert them if the alien monsters are nearby. The family members venture outside when they need food, medicine or supplies. Even though they have a truck that works, they usually travel by foot, so as not to cause any noise that will attract the monsters. (One of the plot holes in “A Quiet Place” is a pivotal part of the movie where Regan has to drive the truck back to the farmhouse, and the engine noise unrealistically doesn’t attract the monsters.)

[Spoiler alert] In the beginning of “A Quiet Place,” a tragedy occurs where Beau is killed by one of the monsters. The movie then fast-forwards to about year later. Evelyn is pregnant, and her childbirth scene is one of the most tension-filled highlights of “A Quiet Place,” considering it’s nearly impossible for someone to give birth silently. And near the end of “A Quiet Place,” Lee dies when he sacrifices himself in order to protect his children. [End of spoiler alert.]

The beginning of “A Quiet Place Part II” gives a glimpse of the alien invasion when it began, so Lee is briefly shown during this terrifying opening sequence that was teased in the first “A Quiet Place Part II” trailer. The rest of the movie, which starts on day 474 of the alien invasion, shows a widowed Evelyn and her kids Regan, Marcus and a newborn son (whose name is not mentioned in the movie) trying to find a new shelter and other survivors. Evelyn ha a shotgun rifle with her for protection.

The Abbotts leave the abandoned farmhouse, which was destroyed in the monster battle that took place in the first movie. The house is set on fire, which is symbolic of the Abbotts trying to burn away the painful memories of a place they can no longer call their home. As in the first “A Quiet Place,” the family members don’t wear shoes when walking outside, because shoes make noises that the alien monsters can hear.

Regan, who happens to be deaf, is the most intelligent and most analytical member of this family. Just like in the first “A Quiet Place” movie, Regan figures out ways to save lives by outsmarting the monsters. For now, the Abbotts are on the move to find other survivors.

The trailer for “A Quiet Place Part II” shows a lot of what happens in ths movie’s plot: While walking in a field near an abandonded building, Evelyn’s foot sets off a booby trap that was placed there by another survivor. The man who set the booby trap is a deeply cynical loner who is at first hostile about letting the Abbotts or anyone else stay with him in his bunker. Regan and this man end up traveling somewhere together. And there are other survivors who encounter the monsters in a recreational park.

The man who lets the Abbotts stay with him is named Emmett (played by Cillian Murphy), and he happens to be someone who knew Evelyn’s late husband Lee as a friend. It’s strongly implied that if Emmett had not known Lee, Emmett might have treated this family more harshly and probably would have refused to let the Abbotts stay with him. Emmett (who also has a gun for protection) is bitter and grieving because he lost his family during the apocalypse. Emmett says out loud to the Abbott family that whatever humans are left in the world aren’t worth saving.

Of course, there’s a lot more that happens in the story—always with the threat of the monsters showing up when they hear any noises. Marcus gets his foot caught in a bear trap, so it’s easy to imagine what happens when he screams out in pain. While his foot his healing, Regan comforts Marcus by having him listen to music on a transister radio with headphones. Marcus tells Regan that the Bobby Darin song “Beyond the Sea” is playing on a repeat loop. She doesn’t think it’s a mistake or coincidence.

Regan decides to leave Emmett’s shelter when she figures out that there are other survivors hinting at their location through the repeat playing of “Beyond the Sea.” The movie explains how she’s able to decipher this clue and get a general idea of where the other survivors are. And when Evelyn finds out that Regan is missing, she begs Emmett to go looking for Regan.

It’s why Regan and Emmett are separated from Evelyn, Marcus and the baby for most of the movie. And, as revealed in the movie’s trailer, there are many other human survivors. Some are friendly and welcoming, while others are most definitely not. The alien monsters aren’t the only deadly creatures roaming around, because some of the humans are very homicidal too.

Because the characters in “A Quiet Place” have to stay silent when outdoors, there’s not a lot of dialogue, as there would be in a typical post-apocayptic horror movie. The character development is at a bare minimum, because these humans are just trying to survive and don’t have time to sit around having deep conversations. Evelyn is still a fierce and brave protector of her children, Regan is a fearless risk-taker, and Marcus is a mostly obedient child who finds his inner strength in this sequel.

However, the addition of new characters in “A Quiet Place Part II” was necessary to advance the story. Emmett represents the devastation of someone who has isolated himself from the rest of the world because he’s lost everyone he loved. He’s not suicidal, but he’s lost faith and hope in humanity.

Djimon Hounsou depicts an unnamed character who’s introduced toward the end of the movie. In other words, viewers should not expect Hounsou to have a lot of screen time in “A Quiet Place Part II.” Scoot McNairy is briefly in the movie as an unnamed man who encounters Regan and Emmett at a marina. All of the actors in “A Quiet Place Part II” do well in their roles, but Simmonds and Murphy have the scenes that carry the most emotional weight.

The visual effects in this sequel are more challenging and frightening, since there are more creature attacks and more people who are killed in “A Quiet Place Part II,” compared to the first “A Quiet Place.” Nothing is too gruesome, but there are enough deaths that these scenes might be too disturbing to viewers who are very young or very sensitive. And it’s easy to keep track of the simultaneous action happening in different locations because the film’s editing won’t let you forget it.

Visually and tonally, “A Quiet Place Part II” has more frantic intensity than “A Quiet Place,” because there’s the added tension of an underage child (Regan) separated from her only living parent while deadly creatures are on the loose. Regan’s independent streak is the biggest personality evolution of the members of the Abbott family in “A Quiet Place Part II.” And based on how “A Quiet Place Part II” ends, Regan is going to be a driving force of future sequels in this franchise.

“A Quiet Place Part II” shows how in this post-apocalyptic world, people can choose to reach out and find strength in helping each other, or people can choose to isolate themselves in a “survival of the fittest” mentality. It’s an obvious metaphor for how people in the real world can respond to global crises. The creature rampages are a big attraction of “A Quiet Place” movies, but what will keep viewers hooked the most is the believable humanity in this survival saga.

Paramount Pictures will release “A Quiet Place Part II” in U.S. cinemas on March 28, 2021.