A Quiet Place: Day One Review – Strong Performances Amid Lingering Questions

A Quiet Place: Day One

Director: Michael Sarnoski

Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou

Run time: 1hr 39m

Movie Rating- 3/5

Movie Reviewed by Anna Kukreja

In a city brimming with stories, an alien invasion forces all narratives into a singular struggle: stay silent, survive, and keep moving. John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” (2018) breathed new life into the alien invasion genre by thrusting viewers into a world where silence was the key to survival. The 2020 sequel maintained this gripping tension, though it didn’t significantly evolve the original concept. It did, however, offer a crucial addition: a flashback to the initial alien attack from the family’s perspective in upstate New York. Now, imagine that chaos erupting in Manhattan.

The freshness of the Quiet Place franchise, centered on humans living in paranoid silence to avoid sound-sensitive alien monsters, is beginning to fade. In this prequel, directed by Michael Sarnoski (creator of “Pig” starring Nicolas Cage), two strangers form a bond on the first day of the alien invasion. The film is well-crafted and features a powerful lead performance by Lupita Nyong’o.

Nyong’o portrays Sam, a terminal cancer patient in hospice care, who has a strained relationship with her nurse Reuben, played by Alex Wolff. When Reuben takes Sam and other patients on a trip to New York for a rare treat a marionette show with surprisingly few children in the audience they are caught in an alien attack, causing apocalyptic chaos. Sam befriends a terrified British law student named Eric, played by Joseph Quinn, known for his intense performance in Luna Carmoon’s psychodrama “Hoard.”

Sam is on a sentimental mission to revisit a jazz-club-slash-pizza-parlor in Harlem, a cherished childhood memory with her father. Her terminal illness gives her a unique perspective: she has nothing to lose and lives intensely in the present. While her sacrificial role may make some viewers uneasy, it adds depth to her character, making her both wise and, unfortunately, more expendable than Eric.

Watching this film in a theater intensifies the experience. The eerie silence and meticulous sound design effectively heighten your nerves, just as intended. Sam deserved a better ending. Her emotional journey made us connect deeply with her, and seeing her sacrifice herself instead of escaping with Eric was heartbreaking. Not every movie has a peaceful ending, but Sam’s story deserved more than her tragic fate.

The film excels in its performances and emotional beats but leaves many questions unanswered. Why did the American government not fight back against the aliens? And the star of the movie the cat, Frodo how did it never meow once? How do we know it was a mute cat?

Despite these issues, the movie delivers some memorable moments. The “pizza scene” might seem far-fetched, but it provides a peaceful, almost surreal respite as Sam finally gets what she came for a slice of pizza.

Overall, while “A Quiet Place: Day One” succeeds in its performances and emotional resonance, it struggles with plot coherence and leaves the audience with too many unresolved questions.