Although not directed by the amazing John Krasinski (he is one of the writers and executive producers), this prequel to the first two A Quiet Place films is just as shocking, and just as perfectly written and acted, but with a new hero…a cat named Frodo.
A Quiet Place: Day One
The Cat!!! When a film calls for a strong hero, it is always the woman and her cat that save the day; just ask Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) of the Alien Franchise. A Quiet Place: Day One, (written by Michael Sarnoski, Krasinski, Bryan Woods and directed by Sarnoski), takes us to the busy streets of New York, a very noisy city. Before the alien creatures attack, we are pulled into the more subdued life of Samira (Lupita Nyong’o). Samira is a young poet who is existing (yep, that’s the word I’ll use) in hospice as she battles the last stages of an incurable cancer. Samira is angry and uses this anger to write poems for the other patients, but these poems only show just how angry she is with her upcoming death. There is only one creature on this planet that gives her comfort…her cat, Frodo.
Samira’s male nurse, Reuben (Alex Wolff) convinces Samira to take a bus trip into the city to see a show. Samira only wants to eat pizza at a shop that holds special memories for her, so off she goes with the cat to find the pizza shop. That is when the alien creatures attack…that whole scene brought back some nightmarish memories of 9/11, so be prepared. It is after the attacks that the show goes mostly silent, because these creatures hunt by sound. Yes, the creatures are a big part in this film like they were in A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part 2, but they are less important to this story because our whole focus is on Samira and that cat. Samira is scared, but you know what, when you have cancer…monsters don’t seem to matter as much.
A Quiet Place: Day One also shows off the talents of another actor, Joseph Quinn, known for his character, Eddie Munson in season four of Stranger Things. Thanks to Frodo, Eric is led to Samira’s hiding spot. He is a British lawyer working here in the states. He doesn’t know about Samira’s health or why it is so important to get a slice of pizza, but they stay together and find other survivors. The goal of all the survivors is to get to the water where rescue boats await them.
A Quiet Place: Day One not only focuses more on the creatures’ fear of water, but it has a familiar actor, Djimon Hounsou, the man in charge of the island of survivors from A Quiet Place Part 2. We learn something new about these extraterrestrial attackers in the film that gave me Alien vibes, for sure.
Conclusion
A Quiet Place: Day One slam-dunked every aspect of a successful working plot and it kept my daughter and I, along with everyone else in that movie theatre, literally jumping out of our seats…silently of course, but still jumping. I and everyone else in that theater had seen A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part 2. We were ready for the horror. We were ready for the creatures. What we were not prepared for was the mindset of New Yorkers looking out for each other. They came together just like they did in 9/11. Working together as survivors and making their way to the docks and the waiting ships. Aware of what was also waiting for them on those docks.
It is within the horror of this alien invasion that we finally learn the importance of the pizza shop to Samira. The story revolves around Samira, Eric, and that cat, and…it…freaking…worked. The story worked!
Go see the film in a theater. Watching it from home will not do it justice. A Quiet Place: Day One is worth the price of a ticket.
