I have been curious about the sound-sensitive creatures of the “A Quiet Place” movie franchise.
So, naturally, when I first heard that there was going to be a prequel for the series, I was anxious to see how they explained the monsters.
Unfortunately, I feel like they took the lazy extraterrestrial route and compressed the storyline into a rush job.
Outside of that, it’s a fairly decent stab at being a prequel, but could have been better in my opinion.
A Quiet Place: Day One is a 2024 American apocalyptic horror film written and directed by Michael Sarnoski, based on a story he conceived with John Krasinski.
It is the third installment in the A Quiet Place film series, serving as a spin-off and prequel.
The film stars Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, and Djimon Hounsou, who reprises his role from the second film.
It’s rated PG-13 for terror and violent content/bloody images and 99 minutes long.
Terminally ill cancer patient Samira (Nyong’o) lives at a hospice outside New York City with her service cat Frodo.
One day, care worker Reuben (Wolff) convinces a reluctant Sam to join a group outing to a marionette show in Manhattan.
While preparing to return to the hospice center, the group notices meteor-like objects crashing into the city.
Shortly afterward, hostile extraterrestrial creatures begin to attack people and utter chaos ensues.
Unfortunately amidst the death and destruction, Sam is knocked unconscious.
Sam later wakes up inside the puppet theater with Frodo and other survivors.
Everyone is quiet, and she is signaled by fellow survivor Henri (Hounsou) to avoid making any noise.
Announcements from overhead military helicopters warn civilians to stay silent and hidden until rescues can be made.
Later that night, Sam witnesses the bridges leading out of Manhattan being bombed, to prevent the creatures from leaving the island.
Unfortunately, one of the survivors begins to panic, which causes Henri to accidentally kill him in the process of keeping him silent.
Later that night, the national power grid cuts out, causing the building’s backup generator to noisily activate.
Reuben rushes to turn it off, but the noise attracts a creature that kills him which further prompts a distraught Sam to take Frodo and leave for Harlem.
The military announces it is preparing to evacuate civilians by boat from South Street Seaport because the creatures are unable to swim.
Groups of people start leaving buildings towards the evacuation point, but the sheer volume of their movement together in the crowded street creates noise that alerts the creatures, who attack them and cause a stampede.
Sam flees in the opposite direction and is sadly separated from Frodo.
English law student Eric (Quinn) escapes a flooded subway station and encounters Frodo, following him back to Sam.
She attempts to convince Eric to go to the evacuation point, but Eric is shell-shocked and follows Sam back to her apartment instead, where she hopes to find pain medication.
While there, Eric learns Sam is an acclaimed and published poet.
Sam and Eric later agree to travel together and narrowly avoid the creatures as they make their way to Harlem.
While I’m underwhelmed by the information on the monsters and the way the movie leaves the ending open, it’s got a great human element to the story.
Plus, the way the director illustrated sound as a character is worth noting, too.
Even though the film is shot in shadowed and dark lighting, I think the experience is better served on the big screen than at home.
