The Scariest Scenes in the ‘A Quiet Place’ Films, Ranked

John Krasinski’s high-concept post-apocalyptic horror is one of the most innovative recent additions to the horror genre. In this world infested with alien creatures that rely entirely on sound to hunt their prey, the smallest and most subtle of noises can be lethal. The tension created in the franchise is palpable.

A Quiet Place is centered around the Abbott family: Lee (Krasinski), his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt), daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and son Marcus (Noah Jupe). Most of the population has been wiped out by the sightless monsters. The US military has been defeated and the government has been effectively destroyed. Society has collapsed. The Abbotts are adapting to an oppressive new world, while trying to retain some semblance of a normal life. Relying on a predominantly silent narrative, with the characters using mostly sign language to communicate, the audience is forced to be quiet and hyper-aware with them. As viewers, we’re immersed into the same horror they face, tensely listening for dangers that may lie ahead. 

10. A Deadly Cell Phone Ring – A Quiet Place: Part II

A Quiet Place Part II opens up on Day 1, just before the alien invasion that came and shattered the whole world. The audience is given a glimpse into the rural New York town of Millbrook, home to the Abbott family, just before a meteorite falls from the sky and the beasts make themselves known. In the chaos that ensues, Lee and Regan end up having to take refuge in a pub with other townsfolk. Their fear emanates from the screen. It’s an anxiety-inducing scene full of tension. They don’t yet know what they’re in for, but as viewers, we hope that no one makes a sound. A creature is at the window. Thankfully, everybody is petrified into silence. Suddenly, a cell phone rings and the monster lunges inside. Fortunately, the two Abbott family members inside manage to escape. 

9. The Toy Rocket is Activated – A Quiet Place

The tone of the first film is instantly set, and one thing is made clear: do not make a sound! In an attempt to put a smile on her little brother’s face, Regan hands Beau back the rocket before leaving the drugstore, never expecting that he’d snatch the removed batteries as soon as she turned her back. As the family treks on the sand path back home, Beau innocently plays with his new toy, trailing behind the group and completely unaware of the danger. Once they make it to the bridge, the rocket lights up and loudly blares. As a viewer, we don’t know yet what to expect, but we know it isn’t good based on the implications and the faces of terror. Suddenly, a monstrous creature is seen lunging toward Beau through the forest. Lee is already running towards his son, but it’s too late. The sound hunter snatches Beau up in a matter of seconds. It’s a horrifying and utterly gutting moment. If the first on-screen kill was a child, certainly no one is safe in this world. 

8. Truck Attack / A Father’s Sacrifice – A Quiet Place

After finding Regan and Marcus, Lee instructs his children to head to the truck. He’s right behind them, but needs to grab an ax quickly for protection. Unfortunately, he’s heard and attacked, with his children witnessing everything. Marcus screams and makes himself and his sister a target. They’re trapped inside the truck, which the sound hunter starts to viciously try to rip open. Their father lies wounded, helplessly watching. It seems as though the children will see no escape. With this violently savage creature, the fear factor is amplified from previous monster encounters. Lee picks himself up with the ax. He signs to Regan that he’s always loved her, and we know he’s about to make the ultimate sacrifice. Lee lets out a guttural scream at the top of his lungs. It’s all at once terrifying and emotionally devastating.

7. Drowning in the Corn Silo – A Quiet Place

As the children are standing atop the corn silo, waiting for any signs of help, Regan gives up, believing her father wouldn’t come back for her. Just as she’s about to leave, Marcus falls through the roof into the corn below. Regan dives in after her brother, as a true big sister would. This is where the audience comes to find out that drowning in grain might actually be scarier than drowning in water. The siblings are nearly swallowed by the lethal sea of corn, but they both manage to help each other make it onto the fallen hatch. Then, come bigger problems. The commotion attracted a monster, who dives in after them. In a moment of much needed relief, they’re saved by Regan’s cochlear implant. It’s a truly underrated but effectively alarming scene that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. 

6. The Bear Trap – A Quiet Place: Part II

After the events of the first film, their home is destroyed, and the Abbotts journey out to look for other survivors and, possibly, a new shelter. As they enter the fenced-in factory grounds, Evelyn accidentally sets off an alarm in the form of a bundle of bottles. As the family runs for refuge, Marcus sets foot on a bear trap, instinctively yelling out in pain. Evelyn rushes to his side, puts her hand over his mouth, and begs him to stop. The poor kid can’t—it’s unbearable. He’s in shock and hurting. It’s a gruesome, tormenting moment. The baby starts crying, too. Thankfully, big sis steps in and saves them from a sound hunter, using their kryptonite—her cochlear implant. As they make their way inside the factory, they come across Emmett who was watching the entire incident through the scope on his hunting rifle. This is where the real story begins. 

5. Alien on a Train – A Quiet Place: Part II

As she journeys through the landscape alone heading to the island, Regan encounters a train station. She climbs aboard a train where there are numerous human skeletons, presumably left to rot since the day the sound hunters invaded Earth. She struggles to reach a first aid kit in the driving booth. When she finally grasps the box, the corpse of the driver falls on her, scaring her and causing her to let out a yelp in alarm. Mirroring the scene in the first movie where she’s alone in the cornfield with an alien behind her, we see one now on the train and out of her sight. Luckily, she realizes its presence in time. It’s an edge-of-your-seat scene as the monster inches its way closer to her and she struggles with her implant and the rifle. It doesn’t seem like she’s going to make it, but in comes Emmett to redeem himself and save the day. 

4. The Radio Booth – A Quiet Place: Part II

It’s nearing the end of the movie, and Regan is so close to broadcasting the frequency from her cochlear implant on the radio and saving everyone. She and Emmett are inside the building, where unfortunately an alien is also hunting them. They’re both determined to make it, but it’s not going to be easy. Regan has to climb through a radio booth window first. Emmett opens it very slowly, so as to not make a noise that can cost them their lives. He helps lift Regan up, who we now realize also has to climb over a desk—one flooded with items and appliances. Nerves are heightened as we watch her foot slowly make its way down, almost hitting a porcelain mug. It lands on the desk, but to get down, she has to close a drawer first, and it just so happens to squeak. It’s a tiny, but utterly frightening moment. The monster takes notice. After the ensuing fight, in which Emmett is injured, the MVP team thankfully manages to succeed. 

3. Flooding in the Basement – A Quiet Place

Evelyn cannot catch a break in the first movie. She lives one horrifying ordeal after another since the moment her water breaks: the nail on the staircase, having to distract an alien, intensifying contractions with a creature lurking in the house, giving birth in the bathtub. Lee leaves her and the baby to rescue the kids, while Evelyn rests. Her moment of peace doesn’t last long. Evelyn wakes up to the basement flooding and her baby floating away in his box without a cover. There’s also a creature lurking in the background. She has to be careful to retrieve her baby without making a noise. She succeeds, but soon after the monster emerges out of the water in front of her. She and baby Abbott were so close to death, had it not been for the pouring water they hid behind that drowned out the baby’s whimpers, and the noise at the corn silo that drew the creature’s attention away. 

2. The Tightly Packed Sequence – A Quiet Place: Part II

The characters are split into three groups at this point. Evelyn is on her way back from an expedition to acquire an oxygen tank. Marcus and the baby wait for her in the factory. Regan and Emmett are making their way to the island to hopefully save everyone. These minutes are packed full of danger and horror for everyone. Marcus foolishly leaves the bunker to check if his mom is close to being back, ends up coming across the corpse of Emmett’s wife, making noise and attracting a sound hunter in the process. Regan and Emmett come across a creepy little girl on the dock, who winds up being a trap set by the feral men who attack them. A fight ensues, drawing creatures out to the dock. Marcus and the baby end up trapped in the bunker, with critically low oxygen. Evelyn encounters monsters, too. Everyone we care about is dangerously close to death. It’s one action-jammed, white-knuckled scene. 

1. Evelyn’s Excruciating Birth Scene – A Quiet Place

Evelyn finds herself all alone in the house enduring the extreme pain of labor, while simultaneously suffering from an injured foot after stepping on a nail on the staircase. The woman is suffering. To top it all off, there’s a monster in the house coming for her and her baby. A trail of blood flows from between her legs in the bathtub. The suffering etched on her face is too much to bear. It’s a nail-biting scene that stresses the audience out nearly as much as Evelyn in the moment. She’s fighting the urge to scream—to let out that release her body needs her to. One tiny sound is all it would take to sign her death warrant, she can’t even gasp. As the fireworks outside go off, viewers breathe a sigh of relief, and Evelyn finally lets out the shriek she had been holding back. What makes the scene so effective is Emily Blunt’s phenomenal performance and the way she’s able to convey everything Evelyn is feeling through facial expressions and eyes full of terror.

Further reading:

• How ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ (2024) Will Fit in With the Rest of the Franchise
• Horror Movies About the End of the World
• 10 of the Most Emotionally Devastating Moments In Horror Movies