The best trick A Quiet Place Part II employs is making viewers hate a child. While Regan (Millicent Simmonds) may be the MVP of the sequel, preserving her father Lee's legacy and discovering a way to eradicate alien monsters more effectively, her younger brother Marcus (Noah Jupe) is the least prepared of them all. For a good part of the film, Marcus exists to drive tension with his misguided behavior and actions.
After COVID delayed its release for more than a year, A Quiet Place 2 finally hit theaters, even beating Disney's Cruella at the box office. The sequel to John Krasinski's breakout horror-thriller picks up seconds where the first film left off and follows the Abbott family into new and unexpected territory. Now that their homestead is burning, they have no choice but to head out into the world beyond and seek out other survivors.
Both A Quiet Place films are no stranger to putting children in peril, but Regan has taken much less time adapting to her new circumstances. Marcus, however, is not adapting at all. It does not endear his character to the audience but increase his unlikeability. A Quiet Place 2 positions Marcus as the most ineffectual family member: while his pained screams after being caught in Emmett's bear trap are justified, they do not help in detracting attention from the aliens. As hard as his family tries to comfort him, Marcus cannot be assuaged, at least not until they are safely below ground. Even then, he is nearly crippled from his injury and requires headphones to settle down.
Later on in A Quiet Place 2, when his mother Evelyn (Emily Blunt) goes for a medical supply run and leaves him behind to look after his newborn brother, Marcus disobeys her wishes to stay put, wandering instead around the abandoned foundry. He is shocked to find the corpse of Emmett's wife and makes noise bumping into a couple of objects. Of course, this brings another alien too close for comfort, and in an attempt to escape, Marcus traps himself and his brother in a bunker with little to no oxygen. The film continues to make it very clear that Marcus isn't cut out for this post-apocalyptic reality.
Marcus's incompetence nearly costs him and his family's lives, but A Quiet Place 2's ending provides him with a small redemptive moment. Just as Regan broadcasts the high-frequency waves from her hearing aid, Marcus picks up the channel on his radio and debilitates the alien attacking him, Evelyn, and the baby. This buys Marcus enough time to grab Evelyn's gun and kill the alien point-blank.
While A Quiet Place Part II does succeed in making Marcus seem like an unreliable and unlikeable character, this turn cements his status as a protector. If a third A Quiet Place movie is made, Marcus may have more chances to win the audience's praise with his newfound courage.