A Quiet Place 2 Theory: Cillian Murphy’s Character Was Forced to Kill [SPOILER]

There’s still a lot unknown about A Quiet Place Part 2, including the possibly murderous backstory of Cillian Murphy’s character Emmett. A huge surprise hit in 2018, writer/director/star John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place rode excellent reviews to the top of the box office charts, hauling in $340 million worldwide on a budget of only $17 million. A Quiet Place ended on a note that felt ready-made for a follow-up, and sure enough, A Quiet Place 2 was quickly greenlit, with Krasinski eventually deciding to return as writer and director.

Krasinski will also appear in A Quiet Place Part 2 as Lee Abbott via flashback scenes that take fans back to the start of the alien invasion, which as partially shown in the trailer for the film, was a time of confusion and chaos. The thing is though, despite the fact that A Quiet Place 2 was scheduled to hit theaters on March 20 before Coronavirus got involved, we knew almost nothing about the sequel’s plot or new characters. The only real hints have come from the trailer and some promotional interviews.

The biggest new additions to the A Quiet Place Part 2 cast are Emmett, played by Cillian Murphy, and another as yet unnamed character played by Djimon Hounsou. As seen in the trailer, Emmett and Hounsou’s character were once together, but don’t appear to be anymore. We have a guess as to why that is.

A Quiet Place 2 Theory: Cillian Murphy’s Character Was Forced to Kill Djimon Hounsou’s

As mentioned previously, information on A Quiet Place Part 2‘s plot and new characters is being kept pretty tightly under wraps. The only reason we even know that Cillian Murphy’s character is named Emmett is due to interviews with the actor. While Emmett’s motivations aren’t really made clear in his trailer scenes, it does appear that he at least begins to bond with the Abbott family, suggesting he’s not a villain. However, we also briefly see Emmett during what looks to be the start of the outbreak, and also see him in scenes with Djimon Hounsou’s character, who is never shown in the present with the Abbotts.

This suggests that something bad must’ve happened to Hounsou’s character, and while it could well be that he was simply killed by the aliens, a line from Emmett in the trailer suggests that things might not be so simple. Emmett tells the Abbotts that the people left at this point in the apocalypse aren’t the kind of people worth saving, and considering that Hounsou used to be by his side and now isn’t, it’s possible that the two met during the early stages of the invasion, or were friends before it, but something happened in which Hounsou did something Emmett couldn’t forgive. Perhaps he sacrificed one of the children the two men are shown hiding in a closet in order to save his own life, perhaps it was something even worse.

Whatever Hounsou’s character did, Emmett then saw no recourse but to take his former friend out of the equation, killing him. The murder wouldn’t necessarily have had to be brutal or cold-blooded, but instead a task Emmett felt he had to perform, either to protect himself or others. That would explain why his outlook on life is so pessimistic, and why he believes those left aren’t worth saving, himself included. Will this theory turn out to be true? It’s hard to say, seeing as how we still know so little about A Quiet Place 2. Thanks to Coronavirus though, it’ll be a while longer before fans know for sure.