A Quiet Place: Day One Movie Review

“A Quiet Place: Day One” is part of a larger franchise for ‘Quiet Place’ horror movies. Some outer-space creatures had landed on Earth to cause havoc. The other movies dealt with how people had adapted to the monsters attacking people who were too loud. These critters are nearly blind, but have an acute sense of hearing. So you need to crunch on that popcorn just a little quieter…

 

Before anything hits the fan, there are mostly common-place and mundane things that are happening. There are a lot of people in New York City, so much so that the average decibel level is up as at dull roar. People all over are going to puppet shows and getting pizza. Some have traveled from England to attend law school. And one young Black woman poet is suffering from terminal cancer.

 

Sam (played by Lupita Nyong’o) is an unhappy resident in Hospice center just outside of NYC. There is head nurse / social worker named Reuben (played by Alex Wolff). He is well aware of the physical pain that Sam is going through. But he wants her to at least get out and join in a field trip to the City. Yes, Sam can bring her cat, named Frodo, along for the trip. And Reuben agrees to get everyone pizza after the show.

 

Sam is let down when she sees that the group is going to see a puppet show. She wanted something a little better. Many of patients do not get any chance to get into the City, so this is a treat for them. Sam has lived in NYC and has an apartment still being rented. Once she gets her pain under control, she is going back to the City to live. After all, she is in luck — after the show, it will be pizza time.

 

There is a nice older Black man with his family at the show. His name is Henri (played by Djimon Hounsou). His son loves Sam’s cat – and that makes Sam happy. But the pizza order will need to wait. There is some commotion outside, and some yelling and loud noises. Then huge explosions rock the building.

 

Sam takes Frodo to the front door, and all she sees is chaos. People are running very quickly. But are they running away from something? Soon that question is answered. There are hundreds of objects falling from the sky. The world appears to be under some type of alien attack.

 

There are creatures that are roaming the smoke and debris. If any of these monsters hears anything — they go straight to that place. If there is human making any noise — that person is snatched up and soon dead.

 

Pretty quickly people discover not to make any noise. Keep those critters away by being silent. People get word that the murderous things stay away from water — because they cannot swim. They also cannot hear people if folks hang around a place with running water — like a fountain.

 

Reuben is writing down messages to Sam, and she is writing back answers. The nice man Henri is gathering up as many people as he can find to have some shelter in the theater building. But at one point, Reuben becomes a plaything for the alien invaders.

 

Sam, and Frodo, will need to forge their own path. There is word that the bridges into the island of Manhattan are being destroyed. The only means of escape is to get to the ports where boat can ferry people to a safe place. Sam decides to take herself on a different route. She is going to Harlem…

 

The ruins of the City are all around, and Sam takes Frodo up further to find a childhood favorite pizza place. It is wild dream, and the monsters are crawling all around. Any sound that Sam makes could be her last. Frodo goes off running, and the cat happens to find another lost traveler.

 

This is fellow dressed in a suit, hiding in a flooded subway entrance. The monsters cannot swim, so he might be safe there. Frodo leads this man to see Sam. There is a sudden downpour — and the rain covers the sound of their voices. He says his name is Eric (played by Joseph Quinn).  He is a law student from England.

 

Sam tells him that his best bet is to head south and find a ferry boat. Eric wants to come with Sam, and Frodo agrees that Eric is OK. Sam does not want to share her pizza prize when she gets to her chosen location. But she relents and Eric comes with.

 

To get out of the storm, Sam goes to an apartment building. She quietly tells Eric to kick open a door. Good thing there is lightning and thunder to cover the sound of the broken door. Sam is going longer and longer with no medicine, and her pain level is rising.

 

Eric asks if this is Sam’s actual apartment. Yes, but the pain meds she needs are not there. Later, Eric goes out a mission to find some meds for Sam. Frodo tags along, and it becomes a big adventure.

 

Next day, when they find Sam’s favorite pizza place, they see it got destroyed. Eric and Sam find a corner bar that seems safe and is still standing. Sam and Eric go inside. It has a way for Sam to recharge her iPod, and some untouched whiskey.

 

Eric gets an idea, and goes out to find something special for Sam. When he comes back, he shows her an untouched box of pizza slices. Perhaps these are slices leftover from Pizza Rat…

 

There are no access points into the City, still they go to the river side. There are some ferry boats with many people working to flee the alien monsters. Eric and Sam have no chance to get to the river bank — because it is crawling with the deadly creatures.

 

Now if there was only a way that someone could make a lot of noise and distract these murderous fiends to go in the opposite direction. Hey no problem, Sam says. Instead of ‘Hold my beer’ — she tells Eric to ‘Hold my cat’…

 

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“A Quiet Place: Day One” takes the movie franchise into a new dimension. It gets back the first day of the alien invasion. Michael Sarnoski does a very good job taking the driver’s seat from John Krasinski. As the Director and Writer for the movie, Sarnoski makes for a very tense look at how it all began.

 

But it is difficult to match the powerful motivations of “A Quite Place” and the sequel. The first movie, the purpose was to save the lives of the family. In the second one, the goal was to save the lives of the remaining family, and the baby and new folks. In this movie – the main reason to exist is to get some pizza. Not quite on the same level…

 

However, the emotional presence of Lupita Nyong’o (Sam) is astounding. Her looks and her eyes can say more than any words can explain. Also, Joseph Quinn seems a little out-of-place. But that is the nature of his role, so he plays with that part of his character. Djimon Hounsou, who had a very brief part in the second movie, is also wasted here.

 

“A Quiet Place: Day One” takes the audience back to the origins of that altered TSA slogan: “If you see Something, Keep your Pie Hole Shut!”