Film Review - "A Quiet Place: Day One"

A Quiet Place: Day One

Directed by Michael Sarnoski

Starring Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, and Alex Wolfff

I may not be a big horror film fan, but I have loved the A Quiet Place series. A unique premise combined with heartfelt storytelling and compelling characters make these films easily stand out in the genre. A prequel showing us the day "the world went quiet" could be considered unnecessary, particularly when you remember Part 2 gave us a good glimpse into that. A Quiet Place: Day One doesn't bring a lot of new material to the table, but don't let that dissuade you. It's a more than worthy prequel that delivers the same quality filmmaking you'd expect from the series while still leaving its own emotional impact. 

Sam (Nyong'o) is a terminally-ill cancer patient living in hospice. The day she reluctantly joins a group-outing in Manhattan is the day those terrifying monsters with exemplary hearing crash-land on Earth and begin terrorizing the population. 

While those that survive the initial attack shelter in silence and await military extraction, Sam makes a personal pilgrimage to Harlem for reasons I will not share here. Along the way she meets a distressed young man named Eric (Quinn) who she reluctantly allows to join her. Oh and there's also Sam's cat Frodo who you're either gonna love or hate because this is the luckiest, most chill cat in apocalypse-movie history.

(Wait...Sam...Frodo...son of a-)

Again, Day One doesn't add much to the lore of the franchise. It's still people trying to stay as silent as possible to survive, getting from one place to another. I will say though that Day One enforces the foundation the first two films laid out, specifically in how the inhabitants of this world will come to combat the monsters. There's no outright moment where someone goes "Oh you know what...we should shut up." but there's little clever moments here and there where you see how the world got from A to B.

But it's interesting to see how different characters in different environments and under different circumstances react to all this. Sam and Eric are not as fleshed out as the Krasinski-I mean Abbott Family in the first two films, frankly their motivations are little thin, but Nyong'o and Quinn's great performances help us to connect with the characters. Both of them are great at conveying so much with saying so little. Nyong'o arguably gives one of her best performances just on the fact alone. She's so expressive and so emotional. She lays it all out there on the screen for the viewer. I only watched the first season of Stranger Things, but I like this Joseph Quinn guy. He threads the line between charming and vulnerable very well. It's also nice to see Djimon Hounsou again, providing a nice connection to Part 2, although he doesn't do too much.

Once again the use of sound in a Quiet Place film does not disappoint. Simple, mundane noises like the crunching of concrete beneath sneakers, or the dropping of a briefcase, hit the ears like a tone of bricks. Not just because of the sound editing but because the films have conditioned us to know that silence is golden.

I don't think I've ever praised a Quiet Place film for its music, but the soundtrack in this one resonates just a bit more. The piano plays a significant part in Sam's backstory, and its use in the score help strike an emotional chord (Heh.) Also, this film features one of my absolute favorite needle-drop moments in cinematic history. You'll know it when you see it.

A Quiet Place: Day One is a delightful prequel that lives up to its predecessors. It may not be as suspenseful or as groundbreaking, but it's got heart, and it's got thrills. It's part I Am Legend, and part Seeking A Friend for The End of the World. A true summer blockbuster in an age where blockbusters are fighting to survive.

Speaking of fighting to survive, there's no way I would stay alive in these movies. I mean, with my seasonal allergies, and the way I sneeze? God help me...