Not all successful movies need to become franchises, and most shouldn’t. Hollywood often disagrees, which is why “A Quiet Place” is now on its third movie. The latest, a prequel set in New York on the first day of the invasion, has lost the excitement of the original idea. So, what’s left?
Many questions arose about the monsters with hypersensitive hearing, and the internet is full of logic gaps. But “A Quiet Place” thrived on its mystery. We were introduced to an apocalyptic world with one simple rule: If you make a noise, you die. The lack of information worked well as we got to know a family trying to survive and quietly deliver a baby. The sequel succeeded by continuing that same story.
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“A Quiet Place: Day One,” directed and co-written by Michael Sarnoski (with John Krasinski), shifts focus from the Abbott family to Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), a cancer patient. She’s bitter and mean but has one friend: a cat named Frodo. This seems unnecessary, as Nyong’o could make any hostile character compelling. Both she and Joseph Quinn, who plays British law student Eric, convey emotions well through their expressive eyes, making dialogue almost unnecessary. Without a baby, the cat adds chaos by surviving more than 3 minutes.
Sarnoski, known for the Nicolas Cage thriller “Pig,” wisely avoids dwelling on the monsters. He barely shows how people figure out they need to be quiet. One moment, people are devoured in New York; later, survivors are shushing each other. While it might be smart to avoid redundancy, it could have been interesting to see someone figure it out or convince a toddler.
The story mostly focuses on Sam and Eric, who attaches himself to her and Frodo. Sam’s goal is to survive long enough to get to her favorite pizza place in Harlem. Nyong’o’s portrayal of a terminal person on the first day of the apocalypse is compelling and heartbreaking. The simplicity and insanity of her quest are beautiful, but Eric’s role is unclear and underwritten.
“Day One” struggles to balance being a character study and a thrilling horror movie with more monsters and jump scares. Some scenes feel forced, but a tense pharmacy sequence stands out. The film could be about any apocalypse, and linking it to “A Quiet Place” only hinders it.
“A Quiet Place: Day One,” rated PG-13 for “terror and violent content/bloody images,” is a 100-minute Paramount Pictures release. It gets two out of four stars.
