A Quiet Place: Day One

This prequel is not so much a ‘prequel’, as it is a separate story taking place within the same fictional world, and so it’s just as accessible to new viewers as it is to existing fans of the series.  Once again, the focus is on the characters more than the aliens themselves, giving this film the same level of emotional depth that the series is known for.

Premise:  Sam (Lupita Nyong'o), a cancer patient living in a hospice, and her nurse, Reuben (Alex Wolff), find themselves stranded in New York City on the first day of the alien infestation.  Also attempting to flee Manhattan is Eric (Joseph Quinn), a law student from England who’s alone in the city.

Review:

Even though I’m not really much of a ‘horror’ fan, I was blown away by the first A Quiet Place when it came out (it was my third favourite film of 2018) thanks to that film’s focus on its characters and the emotional resonance of their relationships, which drew me in completely.  While the sequel didn’t, for me, have quite the same level of emotional impact (and by virtue of being a sequel, it inherently had less of a surprise factor), it still was just as tense and suspenseful as the first film.

Nevertheless, when it was announced that they were making a spinoff/prequel that was going to focus on entirely new characters, I was certainly sceptical – after all, for me the heart of the series was the Abbott family, so I was worried that without them, any spinoff/prequel would just feel at best like a generic horror movie, and at worst a cynical cash-in.

“…the strength of the series is its focus on character development…”

But thankfully, incoming writer/director Michael Sarnoski seems to have understood that the strength of the series is not the sightless aliens (although they are cool), it’s the focus on character development.  Just as you could argue that the first movie was quite light on ‘plot’ and was essentially a character study looking at how the Abbott family tried to rebuild their lives following the tragedy at the start of the movie, A Quiet Place: Day One is also a touching character study that just happens to take place against the backdrop of an alien infestation.  (I always refer to these films as being about an alien ‘infestation’ rather than an ‘invasion’, as there’s never any suggestion that the aliens are here deliberately).

It's perhaps no surprise that Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o didn’t sign up to play the lead in a ‘straightforward’ alien horror film (especially given her involvement in the equally thought-provoking horror film Us).  Without giving too much away about the backstory to Sam, it’s fair to say that Lupita Nyong’o gets the opportunity to really delve into her character, from the cynical and sarcastic protective shell that she demonstrates (to great comic effect) in the opening scenes, right down to the heart of her character.  It really is an incredible performance as she peels back the layers to reach Sam’s emotional core.

“…the set pieces around the abandoned ruins of Manhattan are executed brilliantly…”

The rest of the cast is no less great: Joseph Quinn is really impressive in arguably his biggest role since his breakthrough performance as Eddie Munson in season 4 of Stranger Things (which bodes well following his casting as Johnny Storm in next year’s The Fantastic Four).  He ensures that Eric, his lost law student character, feels like a fully rounded character, with moments of bravery, moments of despair, and moments of panic and shock that are completely understandable given then events unfolding around him.  Alex Wolff brings a real sense of empathy to his role as Sam’s nurse, Reuben, and he’s almost unrecognisable from his earlier roles in things like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Old.  Also returning to the series is Djimon Hounsou, who appears briefly as the same character he played in A Quiet Place Part II to provide some connective tissue to the existing films.

This film’s greater focus on character, coupled with the fact that the novelty has arguably worn off the aliens, meant that I felt that Day One was a lot less tense than either of the first two films.  That’s not necessarily meant as a criticism, more an observation – if the first two films were right on the dividing line between the ‘horror’ and ‘thriller’ genres, I think Day One is firmly in the ‘thriller’ camp.  It still has plenty of suspenseful moments (the various set pieces around the abandoned ruins of Manhattan are executed brilliantly, and give this film a very different feel from the rural tone of the first two films), but it has fewer jump scares and nothing quite as edge-of-the-seat tense as the earlier films.

“…a touching look at humanity, memory, connection & what it means to be alive…”

Instead, the tone of Day One is closer to an apocalyptic disaster movie than a horror film, with the first act definitely matching the intensity of the opening flashback at the start of Part II, but this time on the much larger canvas of New York City.  Later scenes captured the eeriness of an empty city as evocatively as any film I’ve seen since 28 Days Later.

While A Quiet Place: Day One may not appeal to hardcore horror fans, given the lack of gore and the reduced sense of tension, it’s ultimately a touching and poignant look at humanity, memory, connection and what it means to be alive, which is anything but a cynical, studio-mandated cash-grab.