The first A Quiet Place movie was just that -- quiet, with only an occasional sound as the movie, which began 89 days following the arrival of the aliens who hunt only by sound -- followed the lives of a small-town family. The second one began shortly after that, but included a segment early in the movie that went back in time to give us a quick look into the day it all started in the small town, when the aliens landed and people ran for their lives, screaming.
A Quiet Place: Day One gives us a unique spin on the story, beginning shortly before the aliens land. It follows the life of a terminal cancer patient named Sam (Lupita Nyong'o), who's angry that she's stuck in a hospice just outside of New York City. When her caring nurse Reuben (Alex Wolff) suggests she might like to go with the other patients to see a show in Manhattan, she only agrees after he promises they can also get pizza in the city.
Upon arrival, she discovers the show is a puppet show, so she takes her service cat Frodo to a local convenience store to get a snack. On her way back, there's a series of mysterious streaks falling from the sky. Reuben is outside the theater and tells her they have to board the bus to go back to the hospice because of a city wide emergency. Finding out there will be no pizza, she reluctantly boards, but a series of loud explosions forces the patients to flee. Sam, covered in debris and trying to see through the clouds of dust and ash, takes refuge in the theater with Reuben and others, including Henri (Djimon Hounsou, whose character we met in A Quiet Place Part II) and his family.
Most of the people quickly realize that sound is what the aliens are using to hunt and that the lack of it is the only thing that will keep them from being killed, but some people are so panicked that they just can't keep quiet. When military helicopters fly overhead to tell people to make their way to ferries because it's become clear the aliens can't swim, most people head out in droves along the streets to get to safety.
Sam heads the other way, determined to get her pizza. Frodo comes along, no longer on a leash, and he finds a young man who's emerged from a flooded subway, gasping for breath and frightened out of his mind. He spots Frodo and follows him back to Sam, who tries to get the man, whose name we learn is Eric, to follow the others to the ferries, but he prefers to stick to Sam, who seems to know what she's doing.
Joseph Quinn, whom you may have seen in Stranger Things as Eddie Munson, brings a variety of emotions to his character, including vulnerability, which provides a perfect counterpart to Lupita Nyong'o as Sam, who's much tougher and more resilient. Although Eric doesn't appear until well after the movie begins, once we meet him, he becomes an important character, and he and Sam eventually look out for one another.
This film has a lot more sound and action than the previous two, although there are plenty of times when you could hear a pin drop in the theater as the aliens get close to their prey. There are also more jump scares in this one.
Each of the A Quiet Place movies has been wonderfully unique, giving us a different set of circumstances, with an overall tone that varies, and viewpoints from new characters. Even though John Krasinski doesn't appear in this one and didn't direct, he was one of the producers and is co-credited with the story. It's clear that this franchise that he brought to life can go on with numerous sequels, each one bringing something new and exciting to the table. It would be great to see one that follows Eric and Henri's lives as they navigate surviving and hopefully come up with ideas of how to overcome the aliens. ~Alexandra Heilbron
5 out of 5 stars.
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