A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, June 28

PG-13 Running Time: 100 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Fans of A Quiet Place movies - buckle up, grip an arm rest and settle in.

  • Can we take a moment and just remind ourselves how terrific an actor Lupita Nyong’o happens to be? Another example of her range and ability to convey palpable emotion is on display yet again.

  • Tremendous sound design, strong performances and sudden, intense attack sequences and jump scares make A Quiet Place: Day One a thrill ride and jolt to the 2024 summer movie season.

NO

  • If you are unable to handle jump scares, or sensitive to them, enter this “quiet place” carefully.

  • Perhaps more pronounced than the other films in the series, Day One leaves a number of unanswered questions and logical missteps that will threaten to derail enjoyment of the film for some viewers.

  • With much of the violence happening off screen (these movies are PG-13), the film may feel too focused on dramatic storytelling to fully deliver everything they are hoping for.


OUR REVIEW

After two unnerving science-fiction/horror/suspense films centered around frightening alien creatures who kill swiftly and devastatingly at the mere uttering of a sound, A Quiet Place movies have weaponized sound. From a gut-wrenching opening sequence in the 2018 film, placing us squarely in a world of despair and grief, to Emily Blunt’s resilience and steadfast determination to keep her and her family alive in A Quiet Place Part II, the mere making of a noise can mean life and death.

With A Quiet Place: Day One, we find ourselves in the heart of New York City, right before streaking lights, representing meteors, scream across the Manhattan sky and crash down across the globe. Those meteors contain deadly cargo - the Death Angels - long-limbed monsters who dismantle anyone or anything that makes a sound. The notion of a monster intolerant to noise remains a clever choice, even if writer/director Michael Sarnoski (Pig) plays somewhat loose and fast with the rules of how the monsters respond and how people find loopholes in being able to verbally communicate.

The atmosphere is intense, harrowing and, at times, terrifying. Full of jump scares and well-placed sudden attacks and confrontations, Sarnoski keeps us uncomfortable and never quite aware when the next noise will fill a mostly quiet room, signifying a person’s near immediate demise.

At my screening of the film, similarly to the previous films, you could literally hear a pin drop, and midway through the film, I found myself not wanting to hear a sound or even shift in my seat. In that regard, this movie works insanely well. At around 90 minutes of on-screen storytelling, A Quiet Place: Day One never lets you breathe comfortably for any meaningful length of time.

Prior to the arrival of the extraterrestrial invaders, Sarnoski introduces a rather tender story of a terminally ill woman determined to fulfill one more item on her bucket list. Samira (Lupita Nyong’o) resides in a hospice center, with her support cat Frodo, under the watchful eye of caregiver Reuben (Alex Wolff). Convinced to join her fellow residents on a field trip to a marionette performance, she insists on going to Harlem for a slice of pizza. When Reuben reports that everyone must leave and return home, unsure of the reason why, we hear an increasingly tense city feeling more urgent and panicked when a meteor crashes down into the heart of the Big Apple and carnage is released.

Nyong’o reminds us how talented an actor she can be, carrying much of the film on her shoulders with minimal dialogue and powerful expression of emotion. I am further convinced that no one cries better than her and Nyong’o makes us believe the immense stress her character faces, when it comes to declining health and an untenable reality. With Frodo ever the curious companion, Samira begrudgingly befriends British law student Eric (Joseph Quinn), agreeing to help him make it to the boats attempting to successfully evacuate those able to reach the water. 

(Small spoiler, though identified in a previous film: the creatures cannot survive in water.)

As they attempt to avoid making any notable sound, venturing their way across Manhattan, Sarnoski’s screenplay finds creative ways to allow Samira and Eric to speak and interact with one another. And while his screenplay balances a clever set up and likewise falls prey to some logical gaffes, the film’s atmosphere of dread and unease holds away the “yeah, but..” questions that unfortunately arise as you catch your breath again once the movie comes to a close.

Nyong’o gives us an emotional connection to hook us to the story and her makeshift friendship with Quinn proves a winning formula. And let’s acknowledge that Frodo is one heck of an acting feline, giving us one fantastic moment in particular, calmly resting on a beam, during one of the film’s more intense and dramatic sequences.

Tremendous sound design that keeps you on edge for nearly the entirety of the film’s running time allows A Quiet Place: Day One to nest comfortably as a summer blockbuster that will play well with moviegoers. While we may still have a number of questions left unanswered by Sarnoski’s prequel, Nyong’o, Quinn, and one wonderfully pesky cat, ground us with enough reality to make this sci-fi dystopian nightmare feel real enough for an exhilarating 90 minutes at the multiplex.

CAST & CREW

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

Director: Michael Sarnoski
Written by: Michael Sarnoski (screenplay); John Krasinski, Michael Sarnoski (story)
Based on characters created by Bryan Woods and Scott Beck for the film “A Quiet Place”
Release Date: June 28, 2024
Paramount Pictures