A Quiet Place: Day One, by Michael Sarnoski is the latest installment in the Quiet Place franchise. However, it actually serves as a prequel to the past two films and takes us back to the first day of the invasion. This movie takes place in New York, focusing on the characters of Sam, played by Lupita Nyong’o, and Eric, Played by Joseph Quinn, as they navigate this new apocalyptic setting devoid of sound.
Starting with the actual story beats which are the weakest part of this movie to me. My main criticism of this movie is that it is essentially the same as the other two movies without really expanding on anything else from this world. A “Day One” prequel presents the opportunity to show a lot of how this invasion began. Instead, it has the same concepts as the other movies but is set in New York instead of the open country. While it is a good movie and it works well for this franchise, I didn’t feel like I came out of this movie with anything new. They didn’t expand on anything in this world or the creatures that now inhabit it. I think this movie could have benefitted from some sort of Government or Scientific B-plot to give us more of an official backstory to how these monsters arrived on Earth and how the “authorities” are dealing with it.
What this movie lacks in plot uniqueness, it gains back in character. The bond between these two characters is very well done and heartfelt in this movie. This movie effectively uses its characters to process the strong emotions of loss and grief that will come into play in this setting.
The main character, Sam, has cancer and the goal of this movie is to obtain one thing: Pizza. Which, admittedly is a very silly plot point at first glance. However, this Pizza is actually a perfect plot device for making this movie grounded and wholesome. The pizza in this movie represents Sam’s dying wish before cancer takes her. When the monsters land in New York, that goal doesn’t change. Sam is going to die either way, by cancer or by a monster, so she’s going to get her pizza.
Eric, the supporting role, is much more anxious than Sam. While Sam doesn’t really have anything to lose, Eric does, and he is often very terrified. However, he finds his strength in Sam’s companionship. And this is where the character aspect of this movie really shines. While, Eric actually isn’t really introduced until about halfway through the movie, and not much is given about his character’s background, He quickly forms a strong connection with Sam (and her cat). This is where we actually learn the most about him as a character. And as these characters grow more attached to each other the director is very successfully able to build emotional stakes in the movie.
The last thing I want to touch on about this movie is the thriller aspect. While this movie does have its moments of tension, it doesn’t compare to that of the first “Quiet Place” movie. The scene that had the most tension for me, was shown in most of the promotional material so I was already aware of the outcome, which gave it a severe disadvantage. That being said this movie still is very intense, but it feels slightly more grounded in realism than the absurdly difficult scenarios the characters of the past two movies have been placed in. This, in turn, led to the feeling that this movie fell a little flat.
All in all, I would give this movie 3 out of 5 stars. I would definitely watch it again, especially for the characters. I’d rank this in the middle of the three movies (with “A Quiet Place” being my number one, and “A Quiet Place Part Two” being my number three). If you’re a fan of the franchise I would definitely recommend seeing it, but if you’re not an existing fan and are looking to get into this series, I’d start with the first one.
