A Quiet Place: Day One
★ ★ ★
This prequel to the ‘Quiet Place’ series takes us on a journey from just before an alien race arrives on Earth to just after they all but wipe us out. Good things are going on in this film, yet it seems to rely too much on the framework laid out by the first two films and does little to expand the overall story.
For those unaware, the Quiet Place series is about survival after aliens land and overrun Earth. These aliens are blind but have exceptional hearing. They can find their targets by the softest of sounds. To survive, Earthlings rely on sign language to communicate, living life in perpetual silence.
Lupita Nyong’o and Djimon Hounsou stay quiet
© 2024 Paramount Pictures
In many ways, the film expects the audience to know this since the first film did a masterful job in revealing how the main characters survive amongst the creatures. We learn quickly that they can only attack by sound. In ‘Day One,’ it’s mostly assumed the audience already understands this.
We immediately meet a hospice patient named Sam (Lupita Nyong’o) in a facility just outside of New York City. She has terminal cancer and despises the hospice facility. Her one friend is Frodo, her pet cat, who actually turns out to be one of the more interesting characters in the film.
One of the hospice workers, Reuben (Alex Wolff), has tenaciously tried to befriend Sam to little avail. Reuben invites Sam to see a Broadway show, and the only reason Sam agrees is if they can get pizza from Patsy’s, a real-world pizzeria in Harlem. Rueben accepts her terms, and he drives a busload of hospice patients, including Sam and Frodo, into the city.
Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn
© 2024 Paramount Pictures
After the show, which turns out to be a children’s puppet show, the hospice group steps back out into the city. Reuben gets a call while they’re about to board the bus advising them to leave the city at once. Sam is adamant that Reuben hold up his end of the pizza deal.
Suddenly, fireballs rain from the sky, and when they touch ground, vicious creatures emerge and quickly destroy human targets. The city is overrun and devastated, prompting immediate military action. Military leaders broadcast messages telling people to seek shelter and stay put.
Reuben ushers the hospice group, including Sam and Frodo, back into the playhouse, where several people sit in terrified silence as the destruction of the city outside commences. As thinkgs start to calm down outside, a survivor in the playhouse panics and makes noise. Another survivor, Henri (Djimon Hounsou) tries to calm him, but when he can’t, Henri slams the guy’s head into a wall, killing him. This act keeps the creatures away and spares the rest of the group.
Unexpectedly, a backup generator kicks on. It attracts the creatures’ attention, and we hear screeching sounds as they approach. Reuben desperately tries to turn off the generator but is quickly killed by an alien, to Sam’s horror.
Alex Wolf in danger as a-generator makes noise
© 2024 Paramount Pictures
Sam, Henri and several others survive the night and set off on their separate ways the next morning. Sam is still intent on getting that pizza from Patsy’s.
On their journey, Frodo wanders away from Sam and encounters a traumatized survivor named Eric (Joseph Quinn). Frodo leads Eric to Sam, and eventually, they become a trio on the journey for pizza and survival, all while keeping extremely quiet to avoid the monsters.
For the most part, this is an entertaining thriller. Lupita Nyong’o gives a strong performance as a terminal cancer patient trying to navigate a world that’s fallen apart around her. Her character grows and develops as the story moves from her deep depression to finding a purpose in her final days.
Lupita Nyong’o
© 2024 Paramount Pictures
When Frodo is on screen it’s easy to assume this cat’s going to alert the aliens somehow. Instead, he’s a very resourceful feline, who has surprising relevance to the story.
A Quiet Place is a pretty good film. What keeps it from being a pretty great film is that it never pushes past the familiarity of the previous entries. As such, the tense and terrifying scenes are diminished and lack intensity.
The dynamic between Sam, Eric and Frodo is what really makes this film worth watching. With little dialogue to rely upon, the acting carries the film.
Rated: PG-13 (Violent Content/Bloody Images, Terror)
Running Time: 1h 40m
Directed by: Michael Sarnoski
Written by: Michael Sarnoski
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, ALex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou
Horror, Sci-fi, Mystery & Thriller
