John Krasinski's smash hit A Quiet Place managed to subvert horror expectations with an ingenious creature design while framing the story around the themes of family love and bonds of togetherness. It was bold, ambitious, and willing to take a massive risk, paving the way for the follow-up, which has gone on to become one of the best alien-themed sequels yet.
As good as the film is, there are elements about the franchise universe that have caused many fans to scratch their heads in confusion. Whether it's the timeline of events, the mechanics of survival, or the infamous creatures themselves, some things simply don't make sense or add up. This makes it hard to imagine that A Quiet Place could actually happen in real life.
Updated on July 30th, 2021 by Derek Draven: A Quiet Place Part 2 was released in May, and it's been getting the same kind of rave reviews as the original unexpected horror/thriller hit. It's also given audiences a bit more in terms of revelation regarding how the monstrous "Death Angels" hunt their prey. There's still a lot of questions to be answered in the inevitable third franchise film, but for now, fans are focusing on things that didn't quite make a lot of sense in the first two. This is not a knock on the movies, but there are some serious questions that need answers and conflict resolution. When it comes to survival, basic plot logic, and the anatomy of the creatures, some things simply don't add up.
What Do The Death Angels Eat?
One of the most puzzling aspects about the creatures in the films (known as Death Angels from a newspaper clipping in the film) is how exactly they receive sustenance. These are alien beings, so it's entirely possible that they don't even have a digestive tract, but they're obviously an apex predator by design.
Perhaps due to the film's rating, the audience never really sees what happens to the various victims of the Death Angels. They seem to attack violently with no provocation and aren't particularly interested in consuming the flesh of their victims. In the first film, Lee notices this puzzling fact as well and comes up with no answer.
Why Do The Death Angels Kill In The First Place?
A good movie monster doesn't always need an excuse to kill, as the popular and unique xenomorphs from the Alien franchise have proven. However, it would be nice to know why these creatures have it in for humanity so much. It may have something to do with their sensitivity to sound.
Perhaps humans are too noisy a lot for the Death Angels to endure, which is why they attack with such ferocity. They don't seem particularly bothered by the passive sounds of nature all that much, which means this species might have identified humans as a threat.
Why Do Some People Wear Shoes, While Others Do Not?
In both films, characters are seen walking barefoot to try and mask their sound to a greater degree. However, Emmett from A Quiet Place Part 2 prefers to keep his footwear on, suggesting that this isn't as big a deal as it's made out to be. Surely Emmett would have met his end if ditching footwear aided in survival.
Perhaps it's also a comfort issue for the Abbott family, making them feel safer in a world where any small noise can equal death. It would make sense for the characters to wear some shoes, however, given the amount of shattered glass, rusted metal, and other hazards litter the ground floor.
Why Can't The Death Angels Swim?
A Quiet Place Part 2 helped establish a few more truths about the Death Angels, beyond just their weakness to high-pitched sonic frequencies. During the scene when Emmett and Regan are threatened by a group of barbaric human survivors at the docks, the former manages to escape death by diving into the water.
A Death Angel tries to pursue, but the creature cannot swim to save its life and ends up drowning. Most animals have a natural built-in swimming instinct, but these creatures do not. According to franchise canon, the density of muscle and bone, plus built-in armor makes them too heavy to swim, which is a possible explanation, but that suggests a lack of water on their world, which is hard to swallow.
How Did The Death Angels Start Killing Off Humans So Fast?
There's a rather large plot hole in the opening scene of A Quiet Place Part 2. The film tries to give a little exposition as to how the creatures first arrived, by taking the audience back to a pre-invasion period where humanity was still living life to its fullest. Then, a strange meteorite begins coursing through the upper atmosphere, creating some panic.
The meteor hasn't even hit the ground when the Death Angels begin attacking the Abbotts' town and slaying its people. This seems extremely odd, as the meteor should be the source of the invasion. Yet, the Angels are already established and running around the country killing people.
The Death Angels' Hearing
A Quiet Place has some of the scariest moments in any horror film, but it's softened somewhat by a puzzling lack of logic concerning the creatures. It also helps the audience to understand what is, and isn't possible, thereby preventing the story from coming apart at the seams at the slightest bit of scrutiny.
Unfortunately, A Quiet Place sometimes fails to do this, thanks in large part to the inconsistencies in the creature's hearing. If it is so astronomically fine-tuned that they can hear voices from miles away, they should easily be able to hear the faintest of voices in close proximity, such as when Evelyn is in labor.
What About Involuntary Bodily Noises?
The movie makes it clear that the characters can't make a single loud noise, for fear of attracting the Death Angels. They even have to mask the sound of Monopoly pieces hitting the board, proving just how acute the hearing of the creatures truly is, and what they're capable of.
This doesn't factor into account involuntarily noises such as snoring, sneezing, coughing, or even stomach growls. Further, if their hearing is so incredible, they should be able to easily pick up a beating heart pumping full of adrenaline, and zero their targets based solely on that. Some have speculated that background ambient noise masks these things, but that's too convenient.
The Death Angel Opening Its Head Plate
At the end of the film, the characters discover that high-pitched frequencies can overwhelm the Death Angels and force their head plates to flay open, thereby exposing their vulnerable soft tissues to weapons fire. They capitalize on this weakness to slay one of the creatures with a shotgun blast.
The question is, why? Perhaps pressure builds up within the cranium due to the sonic frequencies, forcing the creature to open the head plates in order to allow the sound to pour out. The creatures can open their head plates to better track the source of a sound, which suggests that if anything, they'd want to keep it closed when dealing with painful frequencies.
The Newspaper Clippings
As is the case with most horror movies, A Quiet Place contains some newspapers with dreadful, apocalyptic headlines proclaiming the end of the world as we know it. However, given the fact that newspaper printing is a rather noisy affair, it seems incomprehensible that anyone would have been able to make it through a news cycle.
It also doesn't take into account who delivered the newspapers, why those people weren't hunkering down for safety, and just how long the various news outlets managed to hang on. A Quiet Place Part 2 makes it clear in the opening act that the Death Angel attacks are swift, sudden, and immediate, leaving little time for preparation.
The Death Angels Overcame The Authorities In Record Time
Many popular films have been made showing advanced Martian invaders laying waste to Earth's military, but this is a different affair. There's no advanced technology or heat rays to speak of, which makes it a wonder how the Death Angels were able to overcome the entire world's combined military strength. It has been suggested that their armor is impenetrable to any and all human weaponry, but that's a very far-fetched premise, considering that certain U.S. military rounds can punch a hole through the toughest and thickest of materials.
Second, there's noise to consider. While high frequencies do damage the creatures, it's plausible to theorize that an abundance of loud artillery fire and explosions would eventually prove to be too much for them. Either way, it seems incomprehensible that they could take out the world's military so quickly.
The Government Could Not Figure Out How To Fight Them
At the end of the movie, viewers discover that Lee has figured out a way to render the monsters defenseless. In a situation involving an alien invasion, there would be casualties on both sides. Military scientists would immediately begin researching the creatures to prepare for a counterattack.
Everyone knows that the monsters rely on hearing to get around and hunt their targets, and this information would undoubtedly get passed around rather fast. Military strategists would make it a number one priority to determine any and all weaknesses the Death Angels might possess, and coordinate their attacks.
Who Moved All The Sand?
In the early scenes of A Quiet Place, audiences see the family walking in and out of town on a narrow pathway of sand, which has been sprinkled onto the road. This helps mask their movements, which is a fine plot device, but it doesn't really explain how the sand got there in the first place.
The sheer amount of work involved in bringing that much sand to the location would be staggering, not to mention noisy. Shovels would probably be needed at some point, which would create enough noise by itself. Even layering the sand on the pavement could attract a lot of unwanted attention.
Luring The Death Angels In
While hearing is the greatest strength the Death Angels have when it comes to hunting prey, it should also be one of their biggest flaws, as well. From the start, humans would have begun to figure out what makes these monsters tick, and immediately come up with common-sense solutions.
Most of these would involve the use of sound to distract the Death Angels or send them running in the wrong direction. This is used several times throughout the films, but almost as a last-ditch effort. Theoretically, this would be the primary form of defense humans had against them.
Constant Distractions For The Death Angels
The movie makes it clear that loud natural noises like waterfalls can mask human noise, which is obvious. What it doesn't explain is why these things aren't major distractions for the creatures all of the time. For biological beings with such extremely adept hearing, the surface of Earth should theoretically be an audible nightmare for them.
While high frequencies are the key to debilitating and defeating the Death Angels, that doesn't take into account the sheer volume and consistency of background ambient noise, not to mention high frequencies that occur natively within nature.
How Do The Death Angels Move About?
Hearing makes up the entirety of how the Death Angels track prey and move around in their environments, but it's that latter point that doesn't make much sense. If the Death Angels used echolocation like a bat or a dolphin, they would be able to map their surroundings and track prey almost by visualizing the frequencies.
However, the creatures cannot "see" their prey even if they're right on top of it. While the use of sound helps them pinpoint a target, that doesn't explain how they're getting around the rest of the time without running headfirst into trees, or tumbling off of drop-offs and drowning in the lake.