Review: ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ strays from its muted origins

There’s something about silence that makes people uneasy. It’s an innate instinct to believe quiet equates to something negative on the horizon, like birds that stop chirping in a forest signal the presence of a predator or incoming storm. In horror movies, it’s often an indication that a jump scare is about to occur, or in dramas, a narrative-shifting revelation. But what if the entire picture is built around a lack of sound, making every decibel noticeable and anxiety-inducing? Such a change in focus allows filmmakers to play with certain tropes. In A Quiet Place: Day One, people’s ability to remain silent is put to the test.

Samira (Lupita Nyong’o) has terminal cancer. She lives in a hospice, which she hates, and dreads every day she lives past her prognosis. Her only friends are her support cat, Frodo, and a nurse (Alex Wolff), who tricks her into an outing to the city. However, their field trip is cut short by an alien invasion. In a chaos of screams and debris clouds, monsters snatch up anyone they can hear. So, Samira does her best to navigate the carnage, while being as quiet as possible. On a mission to fulfill her last wish, she meets Eric (Joseph Quinn), who would rather accompany her on a doomed quest than risk dying alone in a foreign country.

The key to these films has always been a need to be quiet as even inconsequential noise attracts the hungry creatures. Thus, communication via speech, no matter how quiet, has generally been kept to a minimum, except in certain settings, and is one of the many reasons a cat is the ideal animal companion in such a delicate situation. However, this movie features a surprising amount of talking, which on the one hand allows for a greater emotional connection between the characters; but on the other, doesn’t feel like it’s keeping with the spirit of the franchise. Conversing under the cover of a loud storm that masks the sound is one thing, but frequent whispers when they’re meant to be hiding is testing the rules of a pre-established world — especially when they have access to pen and paper. Moreover, the moments in which they bond without speaking are actually more powerful, particularly during an endearing scene near the picture’s end. Perhaps this is a sign the script is missing John Krasinski’s direction as this prequel was written and directed by Michael Sarnoski.

One of the more appealing aspects of this narrative is seeing how the aliens wreaked havoc across major populations so quickly after landing. Their impact is immediate as they arrive in vast numbers, crippling the city and any attempt at an organized response. Their strength and agility make them a threat almost everywhere, scaling buildings and plowing through obstructed paths to find their human prey. In addition, the military response is feeble in comparison with their first attempt at a mass rescue ending in total, predictable disaster. Yet, people like Samira, catch on quickly and learn how to survive the early days of the massacre. But the movie doesn’t answer the question of “then what?” Living another day, finding a new hiding spot, reaching a safe haven — it all feels temporary when those monsters are so pervasive.

This is far from the franchise’s best offering, but it does fill some gaps in viewers’ understanding of what caused the post-apocalyptic world of the first film. And it delivers a satisfying conclusion, even though audiences know the story continues with no real solution to the alien invasion.

Director: Michael Sarnoski
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn and Alex Wolff