A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE (2024) review

written by: Michael Sarnoski
produced by: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller & John Krasinski
directed by: Michael Sarnoski
rated: PG-13 (for terror and violent content/bloody images)
runtime: 99 min.
U.S. release date: June 28, 2024

When 2018’s “A Quiet Place” dropped, we didn’t know much about the creatures threatening the humans of Earth. Director John Krasinski revealed more about the hearing-enhanced threat in the 2021 sequel, “A Quiet Place Part II,” showing how they dropped out of the sky one day. Within both movies, the protagonists learn how to stay alive: be as quiet as possible. If not, the blind creatures will kill you. Now there’s a prequel called “A Quiet Place: Day One,” written and directed by Michael Sarnoski (who had a strong debut in 2021 with “Pig”), which places viewers in Manhattan on the first day these unexpected visitors arrive. Working with a mostly new cast, Sarnoski leans more on characterization than the expected horror genre jump-scares.

Boosted by stellar performances from its two leads, “A Quiet Place: Day One” maintains the intensity of the last two movies despite a screenplay that elicits some head-scratching moments. Still, it’s easy to get absorbed in the sudden confusion and fears the characters are experiencing here, significantly when the production design heightens the atmosphere.

When we meet Samira “Sam” (Lupita Nyong’o) she resides at an inpatient hospice care facility due to her terminal cancer diagnosis. Her condition has left her hard-hearted with a flat affect. During group therapy, led by nurse Reuben (an unrecognizable bearded Alex Wolff), she shares her disdain for everyone else there, albeit in a darkly comical manner. However, there’s an underlying truth to what she’s communicating since Sam would instead just eke out her last days, masking her fear with meanness.

Reuben leads the patients in an outing to New York City to catch a show, convincing a reluctant Sam to join them who only agrees as long as she can get some NYC pizza. She takes along her support cat, Frodo, and neither lasts long in the small theater where the audience watches a marionette show. While in the lobby, Sam hears an unusual amount of noise and commotion, even for the Big Apple, and soon enough, the sirens and flying vehicles indicate something more going on. Suddenly, Sam and other confused theatergoers, including a family man named Henri (Djimon Hounsou, sorely underused, playing a character who is also in “Part II”), witness people being slaughtered by vicious aliens in the street outside.

Amid the chaos and confusion, Sam manages to survive by doing her best to stay silent. It’s baffling and amazing that her cat Frodo (played by two felines, Nico and Schnitzel) catches on to the survival tactic and remains quiet throughout the entire movie. Despite Sam’s determination to end her last days alone, she is followed by a frightened stray named Eric (Joseph Quinn), a shell-shocked law student desperate for help. Annoyed and hesitant, Sam eventually relents and takes on Eric as a survival partner. As she sets out to visit a pizza place from her past, Sam hopes that she and Eric stay undetected by the alien threat.

One of the downsides that “A Quiet Place: Day One” has against it is that viewers who’ve seen the last two movies know what the threat is and what to do about it. The fascinating thing about the first movie is that the one family we followed knew more than we did about the state of their environment and the peril they did their best to ignore. Now, with “Day One,” we know more than everyone in the story, and right away, it becomes confusing (and a little frustrating) regarding how authorities and the military can determine that noise will attract these creatures.

It’s not hard to be as quiet as possible, but it all depends on your location, and in a place like NYC, it’s almost impossible. Sarnoski establishes this in a title card early on, reminding the audience that we’re not in “A Quiet Place” by stating that “the average sound level in the city is 90 decibels” with an aerial shot of the city. No doubt, that’s probably the worst place to be (that and a rock concert) when these uglies land, and the director and his talented sound team gradually utilize every urban noise possible during the film’s opening.

Instead of just giving us another alien invasion flick, Sarnoski hones in on specific characters for a ground-level survival story of confusion and chaos. At the same time, the director knows the draw here is the threat, and our initial character introductions to Sam and Reuben are sufficiently brief. Yet even when cinematographer Pat Scola’s aerial shots show the creatures scrambling across buildings and streets like bugs scattering from a lifted rock, most of “Day One” finds the camera closely following the panic and fear of the humans. Indeed, the mayhem caused by the aliens is alarming as civilians instantly turn into targets with their screams in an environment where loud sirens and sudden explosions are inescapable. 9/11 imagery is also inescapable, as Sarnoski covers Sam in the ash and dust that overwhelms everyone in the scrambling city streets.

How Sam and others on the ground learn that staying quiet will keep them alive isn’t completely clear. There are moments where military helicopters are in the air announcing everyone to “stay put” and “be quiet”, but how did they arrive at this tactic considering this is “Day One”? On that note, the day of the first alien arrival is where Sarnoski starts the movie, but it covers the first three days, which would make for a more extended title.

Despite some questions, “Day One” is still a satisfying viewing experience, primarily due to the performances from Nyong’o and Quinn. Both actors are excellent at communicating where their characters are with expressions and body language. The two characters have a fast-paced arc in order to stay alive. Sam is reluctant at first to have Eric tag along but can’t deny that this is someone who knows he’ll die on his own. It’s compelling and heartening to see two characters come together and actually use kindness, attentiveness, and sacrifice to make it through a heightened, perilous environment.

If it weren’t for the human connection these two convey, which isn’t necessarily expected from these movies, this would seem like another needless prequel. It doesn’t expand or bring anything new to the franchise (which never should’ve turned into a franchise). However, it’s still a blast to follow Nyong’o playing such a complex character in a story that brings as much sensitivity as it does intensity. Undoubtedly, we’ll see another entry, but hopefully, it will pick up after “Part II” and move forward instead of pulling back.

RATING: ***