…………………………………………………

A Quiet Place: Day One Movie Review

A Quiet Place: Day One is a 2024 apocalyptic horror film directed by Michael Sarnoski and starring Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn. It’s a very disappointing movie.

………………………………………………….

“It’s good to have been back“

…………………………………………………..

When New York City comes under attack from an alien invasion, a woman and other survivors try to find a way to safety. They soon learn that they must remain absolutely silent as the mysterious creatures are drawn to the slightest sound. Given this project’s title, I’d expected going in a prequel that will not only be a full-blown disaster/alien invasion story, but also one that will give us more insight into these aliens and their lifestyles.

But the end product gives us neither of the two. It was frustrating how the filmmakers so heavily diverted from the extraterrestrials in favor of the human drama. Both are necessary for this franchise to work and here even the human drama was somewhat lacking while the alien stuff was very much brushed aside.

We do get two superb action set pieces – one sees them diving underwater to escape the aliens while the other is the end sequence where Quinn’s character escapes from them with his cat. But for the most part the rest of the film wasn’t really concerned with either the aliens or the spectacle. The very decision to have Michael Sarnoski, the director of ‘Pig’, helm this project was a foolish one from the start. His indie sensibilities didn’t lend themselves well with this particular franchise that needs to be both intimate and epic.

My main issue with this prequel is that it’s oh so slow. The second act was particularly sluggish in pace and this is where the movie did grind to a halt. The director obviously strived for a more intimate and meditative story, but even in that area he struggled to convey those emotions due to lesser characterization and that glacial pacing that prevented me from ever fully getting into the movie.

…………………………………………………..

With that being said, the performers did elevate things considerably. Lupita Nyong’o was terrific as always. The character development overall was quite slight here, which was disappointing to me as the previous two entries were better crafted in that area, but the actors did make them more interesting. Sam’s cancer storyline was quite touching, but nowhere near as emotional as it could have been given that the movie didn’t develop her as much. The ending was quite moving for sure, but not entirely believable.

As for Joseph Quinn, he was thoroughly unrecognizable from his ‘Stranger Things’ role, but still very memorable and effective. He sold his character through his facial expressiveness alone, so he should be given a lot of credit for managing to match his immensely talented partner. I really liked the dynamic between these two people and the idea of a found family, but again much more could have been done with this theme.

If there is one thing that most people will take away from A Quiet Place: Day One, it has to be the cat. Yes, Frodo is an instantly iconic movie cat character and an extremely believable one – he is fearless and clueless in the face of danger while being individualistic and loyal in equal measure. He stole the show and was the star of the picture.

…………………………………………………..

The movie looks good despite not focusing on VFX all that much. The technical aspects are strong, especially the sound, but the previous movies focused on sound much more extensively. While competently made and at times genuinely endearing, the movie felt hollow to me in terms of its thin plot and a lack of conflict that plagued most of its runtime.