“A Quiet Place: Day One” (2024) is the third film in the “Quiet Place” franchise and is a prequel to “A Quiet Place” (2018), which took place 471 days later. There are no appearances from the original cast. Instead, the film stands alone and follows Samira, nicknamed Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), and her cat Frodo (Schnitzel and Nico) as they navigate Manhattan on the first day when the creatures landed on Earth looking like a meteor shower. Along the way, she crosses paths with Eric (Joseph Quinn, who resembles Dominic West), a foreigner studying in the US, and they help each other survive and get what they need.
If you saw the trailers, they are a little misleading. The story appears to go in a different direction than originally planned, which makes since director Jeff Nichols quit. Originally it appeared to be about a community, ensemble survival story with people of color and queer folk before it became predominately focused on Sam. The generator scene changes which characters wear the metaphorical red shirt. Djimon Hounsou’s role gets severely cut though he gets maybe one to two meaty scenes. If you are a Denis O’Hare fan and were excited to see him and his character’s onscreen significant other, an actor whom I did not recognize from the brief clip, do not bother coming but those characters get absolutely zero screentime. The trailers for “A Quiet Place: Day One” did not provide a lot of context about Sam and her relationship to all the other characters, and it is not necessary to spoil it here though other reviewers probably will. It is the only aspect of the film that feels fresh, and it never entirely works. Disclaimer: I have not yet seen “A Quiet Place Part II” (2020) so it is possible that I missed something germane, but Cillian Murphy means that I’ll see it one day. Get it!
If you have seen one apocalyptic event razing Manhattan, you have seen “A Quiet Place: Day One.” If you are tired of watching Manhattan get destroyed, then you should probably skip it. Most of the film was not shot on location, but at least the film bribed moviegoers with the breathtaking view of the skyline upon arrival. I used to love a good apocalypse, but after 9/11, it is not the same, and I’m tired of watching my hometown get destroyed for entertainment. Also two decades later, using the same imagery of 9/11 is old and exploitive. Expect the fog of debris and dust coating everyone. If you really must watch fresh destruction and mayhem of a major US city, then check out Alex Garland’s “Civil War” (2024). It was realistic that New Yorkers would figure out fairly quickly how to dodge death, but it also has people doing dumb things regularly, which is enervating. As a believer in euthanasia, it strains suspension of disbelief that people would actually commit suicide by making noise. Anyone who watches a nature documentary knows that human beings would instinctually fear any creature that would kill them mercilessly. Also if you are going to raid a pharmacy for medicine, maybe don’t get a single box of painkillers.
If you are interested in seeing more about the alien antagonists, allegedly called the Death Angels, then definitely watch “A Quiet Place: Day One.” Director and writer Michael Samoski borrows heavily from the “Alien” franchise in most of his direction, which feels derivative. There is one scene where all the Death Angels congregate and relax when they are not hunting down noisemakers, but it is a kind of silly scene and does not provide any additional insight which was not already offered in prior movies about their eating habits.
This frustrating movie is not bad, but it is hard to get invested in it when you already know what is going to happen. (Krasinski usually directs and writes these films.) Sarnoski was handpicked to steer this film his critically acclaimed feature debut “Pig” (2021), which I will never watch because I do not watch films if I know the animal will die. The cinematic extinction of humans is another matter entirely. “A Quiet Place: Day One” is trying to be a successful horror/sci-fi film to get butts in seats and bucks in the box office, but at its heart, it is a film about the preciousness and wonder of life and how everyone is going to die so appreciate its ephemeral quality and minor joys. It also pays homage to the magic of entertainment and art helping individuals to transcend their personal woes. Films which tackle mortality and death are amazing, but both genres should be evenly mixed. Instead Samoski appears to have a timer to keep the beats separate, and it ruins the poignancy of the sentiment. It is possible to manipulate people’s emotions, have them aware of having their strings pulled and still nail the landing. Steven Spielberg has made a career of doing it, but it just does not work here and feels forced. Also because there are no scenes where Samoski shows what the Death Angels do to the noisemakers when they snatch them, the horror proceedings get repetitive and mundane. It is a lukewarm, uneven effort.
Only the actors are doing the heavy lifting, and it is not fair to them because their ability to make money will ride on the success of their last movie, and they’re getting saddled with this film. The luminous and talented Nyong’o and Wolff, whom everyone should love from “Hereditary” (2018) have the most interesting relationship dynamic in “A Quiet Place: Day One” although Sarnoski is clearly more invested in Nyong’o and Quinn’s characters interacting. It feels like a wasted opportunity and makes the film more sentimental and saccharine than necessary. It is nice to see two strangers form an instant bond and become devoted into protecting each other, but it also feels as if Sam exists so Eric can survive as if he is the main character, instead of playing a supportive role. Eric could be an interesting character worth following, especially because his first on-screen introduction leaves more intriguing questions about what happened to him. Maybe Sarnoski wanted to have his cake and eat it too. A black woman as the lead of a summer blockbuster is amazing, but it feels as if they made an eleventh-hour cynical decision to pair her with someone more relatable to humanize her.
The best actor in “A Quiet Place: Day One” is not a human being, but two cats playing one role, the cat! The cats did their own stunts, which includes being immersed in water. Schnitzel and Nico’s first scene after the Death Angels appeared was insulting to their intelligence, but otherwise the cat character had a great, personal story arc of survival.
“A Quiet Place: Day One” is fine, but the story and special effects are beneath the cast’s capabilities. Still if audiences want to see more Black people onscreen, vote with your dollars for mediocrity because it is true equality when a movie with a Black lead can succeed without being excellent.