A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) | REVIEW

Directed by Michael Sarnoski — Screenplay by Michael Sarnoski.

It has now been more than six years since John Krasinski, then (and perhaps still) best known as ‘Jim’ from the American sitcom adaptation of The Office, proved himself as a competent entertainment triple threat (actor, co-writer, and director) with his third film as a director, A Quiet Place. The film, which was once suggested as a part of the Cloverfield franchise, has since gone on to become its own franchise, as Krasinski also directed a sequel — A Quiet Place Part II — but also because the film series has spun off into an upcoming video game. Now, John Krasinski has, at least for a moment, handed off the reins to the franchise to director Michael Sarnoski — best known for the Nicolas Cage-led film known as Pig — who has now made the franchise’s third film, titled A Quiet Place: Day One, which, as you may be able to guess, is a prequel to the original film that kickstarted it all.

In Michael Sarnoski’s A Quiet Place: Day One, we follow a terminally ill hospice patient called Samira, or ‘Sam’ (played by Lupita Nyong’o), who also has a service cat named Frodo. While on a group excursion to Manhattan led by a care worker named Reuben (played by Alex Wolff), meteor-like objects start crashing into New York City. Suddenly, these noise-sensitive and violent alien creatures, who use echolocation to detect their prey, appear and wreak havoc. While the people around her are desperate for evacuation from the city, Sam is moving in the opposite direction because she wants to relive a happy memory while she still has the opportunity to do so. On her journey, she also encounters a scared and confused law student and Englishman in New York, Eric (played by Joseph Quinn), who insists on tagging along with her.

If the first A Quiet Place was a film about trying to protect your family by any means necessary in a post-apocalyptic world, and the second film was John Krasinski’s post-apocalyptic meditation on what will happen when you’re no longer there to protect the ones you love, then I think it’s fair to say that Michael Sarnoski’s film is less so about family and more so about going out on your own terms, companionship, and human experience and recollection. Building the film around a character who isn’t fighting for long-term safety due to a terminal illness is probably the film’s most original trait, and it makes for an interesting main character arc to follow.

Interestingly, the film, from a certain point of view, has quite a bit in common with Sarnoski’s debut film, Pig, as it contains both a focus on an animal (and, boy, let me tell you that Frodo is a star), a focus on a desired meal, and an emotional connection to the past. Like Pig, A Quiet Place: Day One also has scenes of immense beauty and poignancy that work really well for the film. Yes, it’s an apocalyptic film in the horror genre, but I found it refreshing how it also often felt like a poignant drama — though I expect some people may feel differently given many will have expected it to go full horror.

But despite the elements that feel new to the franchise, original, or refreshing, it should also be said that the one thing holding it back is how much in it feels like a retread. You probably know the formula by heart at this point. First, there is silence, then someone makes a crunching or otherwise loud noise, and then all hell breaks loose. It doesn’t have many new tricks hidden up its sleeves, other than the effective way it places its cat at the center of several tense sequences. Its central audial gimmick isn’t fresh anymore. 

But the cat stuff really works (and occasionally reminded me of the video game Stray), and the more emotional and quiet scenes built around the main character’s arc work tremendously with a certain pantomime sequence being a notable highlight. Also, in certain suspenseful sequences, Sarnoski’s film clearly contains visual references to films like Children of Men and Aliens, both of which were references that I really dug. 

Performance-wise, A Quiet Place: Day One is spearheaded by a Lupita Nyong’o performance that puts her incredibly emotive face to good use — her eyes speak a thousand words. The film is blessed with a brilliant performer in its lead role, and she is paired with a very effective Joseph Quinn in the secondary lead role, with which he does a good job of playing his character’s anxiety through sad puppy dog eyes and an energy that, to me, again felt very much like a young Robert Downey, Jr. occasionally. 

On the whole, the key strengths of A Quiet Place: Day One are the core performances, its moments of great poignancy and beauty, and the ways this film feels connected to the sensibilities of its primary filmmaker, Michael Sarnoski. Admittedly, I don’t think it comes close to being as effective as the first film in the series that went on to launch a franchise, but I do think it is a more complete film than Part II, which I still think features a slightly disappointing B-plot. 

7.5 out of 10

– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.