George and Josh Bate
Six years ago, watching the original A Quiet Place in theaters was a singularly entertaining experience. Audiences were not ready for what became the rare horror film to transcend the genre and captivate those typically not receptive to what scary movies have to offer. With his directorial debut, The Office star John Krasinski suddenly became a notable director overnight and followed up his film with its hit sequel A Quiet Place Part II. But what made A Quiet Place such a success? At its core was a premise that sold itself – the world is invaded by aliens with extremely acute hearing that kill anyone and anything that makes a noise. Now, the third film in the franchise—A Quiet Place: Day One—grips with a similarly compelling premise: what happens if these aliens are in the indescribably loud and busy New York City (as opposed to rural America) and what happened on the very first day they arrived on Earth?
Exploring these ideas in the latest film in the A Quiet Place franchise is Pig director Michael Sarnoski, who also writes the film from a story he developed with John Krasinski. Day One follows a woman named Sam (played by Lupita Nyong’o), a terminally ill cancer patient who lives with her cute cat Frodo in a hospice outside of New York City. Struggling with the pain of her illness, a reluctant Sam joins a group of her fellow patients for a day trip to The Big Apple. What is intended to be a refreshing day out soon becomes a living nightmare as the sound-hunting, seemingly invulnerable extraterrestrial creatures crash land in the heart of the highly populated city, plummeting Sam into a harrowing battle for survival.
The previous films in the franchise excelled by having lead characters the audience can actually feel an emotional connection to and, thankfully, Day One is no different. The film begins pre-alien attack and immediately sparks empathy in showing the struggles of Nyong’o’s Sam character. Sam is seemingly the youngest patient in a hospice full of sick people with months or weeks to live. She is ill and, understandably, bitter about the situation she finds herself in. Never leaving her side is the adorable Frodo (no, not Elijiah Wood’s character from The Lord of the Rings, but a black and white cat), who keeps Sam company during an unimaginably painful and terrifying situation. Just like Sarnoski did with his previous effort Pig, the writer/director of Day One quickly evokes a strong sense of empathy for the lead character. This feat should not be underestimated as it is vital for a film like this to have characters we can get behind and emotionally connect to. In turn, the near-misses and close-calls feel all the more intense and visceral as we have a vested interest in ensuring our lead character is alright.
The strong start to A Quiet Place: Day One also establishes a unique feature to its lead character worth noting – she is terminally ill. In apocalyptic movies like A Quiet Place, the goal of our lead character is almost always survival. But what happens if the lead of an apocalyptic movie like this is already dying? What if there is already a ticking time bomb for our main character, such that, even if she survives the immediate danger of the apocalypse, death is still right around the corner? The creative decision to give this backstory to Nyong’o’s character adds something unique to Day One as Sam, unlike everyone around her, is interestingly not as concerned about survival. Yes, she still wishes to survive, but her reasons are more nuanced and tied to the fact that she knows her days are numbered, regardless of what happens with the aliens. In turn, Sam is not only a character who is easy to empathize with, but she also enables the story to go in innovative directions for a survival film.
In addition to intelligent screenwriting, Sam is such a compelling lead because of the performance of Lupita Nyong’o. The Academy Award winner continues to make a name for herself in the horror genre, following up her stellar turn in Jordan Peele’s Us with another impressive performance in A Quiet Place Day One. Nyong’o carries a level of emotion in her eyes and facial expressions that few actors can achieve and that allows the audience to so intimately connect with her character. There is so much detail and emotion she conveys about being terminally ill, while never being too heavy-handed or overt with her performance. It is an incredible performance that, alongside her work in 12 Years a Slave and Us, affirm Nyong’o is a real star.
Nyong’o’s Sam, alongside other hospice patients, is watching a marionette show in Manhattan when she soon finds herself in the middle of an alien invasion. This is not like A Quiet Place or A Quiet Place Part II as we are seeing the very first moments these aliens arrived on Earth and what it was like for humans in the immediate aftermath of their arrival. Following these events makes the first half of A Quiet Place: Day One immersive and intense, up there with the edge-of-your-seat suspense Krasinski evoked in key scenes in the first two films. Sarnoski does a phenomenal job depicting the initial chaos and desperation of the invasion, leaning on imagery that parallels the 9/11 attacks to really hammer home the horror of this situation.
As the nail-biting intensity of the film’s first half continues, Nyong’o’s Sam meets Eric, an English law student played by Joseph Quinn. The actor who blew up social media and gained worldwide acclaim with his performance as Eddie Munson in Stranger Things season 4 has some big projects on the horizon, starring as the villain in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II and playing Johnny Storm in Marvel Studios’ highly anticipated The Fantastic 4, but he first stars as one of the lead characters in A Quiet Place: Day One. Quinn confirms that the initial acclaim he has received is warranted as he delivers a formidable performance alongside Nyong’o. Quinn excellently portrays sheer terror and vulnerability, while also evoking the kind of heart and intimacy he did with his performance as Eddie in Stranger Things. Big things are to come for the London-born actor, and his turn in A Quiet Place Day One is the latest evidence of that.
Over the course of the film, Quinn’s character Eric grows in prominence, while Nyong’o’s Sam fades somewhat. This aligns with a generally negative trajectory that Day One unfortunately heads in after its terrific first act. What is initially unrelentingly enthralling eventually becomes tired and even tedious, something that cannot be said for even the most mundane elements of A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II. The proceedings admittedly pick up in the film’s final 10-15 minutes with a solid and emotionally effective finale, but this comes after the film has slowed down and lost quite a bit of steam.
Also hindering Day One are a number of logically implausible moments. All sci-fi and horror films have these to some degree, but, eventually, things can hit a point where there are so many things that do not make sense or that run inconsistent with the rules established in the film that enjoyment is hindered. More so than its predecessors, Day One features a number of these head-scratching moments – not excessively so, but just enough for them to be somewhat of a bother. How did everyone become so quickly oriented to the hearing acuity of the aliens? How does screaming at the same time as a thunder clap not attract the aliens, but an awry footstep does? A number of similar inconsistencies takes one out of what is otherwise a fairly immersive horror film.
A Quiet Place: Day One sets itself apart from its predecessor with two key elements – depicting the very first moments of the alien invasion and exploring what it would be like for the aliens with acute hearing to be in one of the world’s most populated and loud places. The film finds success with what it does with the former element, but falls short with how it explores the latter. Day One is certainly an effective prequel and interestingly tells the story of the first day of this alien invasion, although the same cannot be said for how the film tackles the uniqueness of this premise in a setting like New York City. Placing these aliens in such a populated, loud place seems like a no-brainer for the filmmakers, especially after the previous films took place more so in rural or less densely populated areas. This no-brainer of a premise produces all sorts of intriguing questions, most striking of which is ‘how can humans survive these aliens when in a place so populated and so loud?’ Unfortunately, Day One never quite capitalizes on the inherent intrigue in this premise, instead unfolding largely as another A Quiet Place film that could have taken place anywhere. In other terms, the backdrop of New York City offered great potential for A Quiet Place installment and yet Day One feels just like another A Quiet Place film, rather than A Quiet Place film set in The Big Apple.
Overall, A Quiet Place: Day One is definitely a recommended watch, especially for those who enjoyed the franchise’s first two films. Day One shares the intensity and emotional connection to its lead characters that made Krasinski’s films so effective, although a multitude of logically implausible moments and a surprising failure to capitalize on the New York City setting mean the film falls short of its potential. An exhilarating first half that ranks among some of the franchise’s most heart-pounding moments surprisingly devolves into a tired, slow exercise that loses steam as it progresses. Lupita Nyong’o shines as the terminally ill Sam, while Stranger Things alum Joseph Quinn continues to evidence why he is such a hot property in the film industry now. A Quiet Place: Day One may be the weakest installment of the series to date, but it still packs enough intensity and emotion to make it worth a watch—largely compelling, but nothing to shout about (especially around these sharp-hearing aliens).
