A Quiet Place: Day One not only is an exception to a film landscape overrun with sequels and prequels but is perhaps the best in the A Quiet Place series. The prequel is filled with emotion, high stakes, and is more thoughtful than any of the previous installments. A Quiet Place: Day One is an exploration of the resilience of everyday people set in the backdrop of a disaster, alien setting. Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn are the duo we never knew we needed, the movie stars of the summer. 

This review contains mild spoilers.

While A Quiet Place: Day One is a prequel to John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place (2018) and A Quiet Place Part II (2020) and takes place in the same universe, this prequel feels almost like a standalone film, which helps the film almost entirely avoid common issues associated with prequels. From writer/director Michael Sarnoski (Pig), this installment is a tender, terrifying, bleak look into what happened the day the world went quiet. Heading into this film, it’s hard to feel the weight of the stakes as we know most of the world doesn’t survive the invasion of the creatures, so Sarnoski sets up a tense perspective for A Quiet Place: Day One; our heroine, Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), is dying before the invasion even happens. The stakes instantly change as, how would you handle an alien invasion if you were dying? What would motivate you to survive? 

We meet Sam in a hospice reading a poem about shit (literal and her situation) much to the dismay of a nurse, Rueben (Alex Wolff), who encourages Sam to join him and other patients on a trip to the city. Sam only agrees to join in, with her cat Frodo, if she can get a slice of pizza in the city, which she reminds him is the only real pizza you can get. As you can guess, once in the city, the sky literally begins to fall as the creatures take over New York City. While audiences know what to expect with these creatures, both how they operate and their look, Sarnoski does an incredible job building suspense to seeing the creatures in full. At first, you simply just see their silhouette in the dust filling the city and then just a foot (hoof?). As Sam tries to navigate getting to safety, she doesn’t understand the situation at all. We see her in real time figuring out the noise is attracting the creatures as anyone who yells out is quickly snatched by a creature or an ambulance is thrown across the street after a siren goes off. It helps keep Sam not only a fully fleshed human character but allows the audience to see the fictional world learn in real time how to survive. 

The invasion sequence is incredibly bleak and gut-wrenching as the dust and debris fill the New York City streets and you see families quite literally being torn apart. When Frodo wanders off, your heart immediately sinks as it’s not that just Sam needs Frodo as emotional support, the audience does too. The horror and sheer panic taking over is palpable and Sarnoski creates a tense atmosphere that’s even hard for the audience to find a moment to breathe in. Sarnoski doesn’t rush anything in the film (even with its breezy runtime), he truly allows the audience to experience every horrific event unfolding with Sam and our other group of characters. By the time Sam meets Joseph Quinn’s Eric, you feel the same way he does, he doesn’t want to be without Sam. Eric is clearly in complete shock of what just happened in the city before his eyes and his motivation to stay with Sam despite her constantly telling him to get lost is quite simple, he doesn’t want to die alone. A Quiet Place: Day One could easily be a soulless cash grab as the third film in a franchise, but Sarnoski has such a grip on the material he delivers a character study about the resilience of everyday people. 

As we follow Eric and Sam attempting to get some pizza with Frodo, you can see how Sarnoski is interested not in the attacks or creatures, but the moments in between as our characters find the humanity and sheer will to live amongst the world ending around them. The creature attacks are incredibly well done and will satisfy the itch for a big horror blockbuster this summer, but the reason to see A Quiet Place: Day One is the performances. As usual, Academy Award Winner Nyong’o is breathtaking with her intense, emotional performance that elevates the entire film. Nyong’o is the scream queen of a lifetime, and every genre is better with her involved, but especially horror. Her eyes can express so much and, in a world where you have to stay silent, she dominates every second she’s on screen. Quinn is going to be the movie star of 2024 with this film and Gladiator II upcoming; to hold your own against Nyong’o is an incredible feat and the man does it. The charisma radiates off the screen from the moment Quinn appears, the man simply belongs on the silver screen. His chemistry with Nyong’o demands more films with them together. Another pure standout in the cast is Djimon Hounsou, while he’s underused in the film, you can’t help but feel safe when he’s on screen not just because we know he survives (as he’s in Part II), but Hounsou is shown as the protector and leader in the film. While the characters are all figuring out how to survive, Hounsou’s character takes lead. Every moment this iconic actor is on screen makes the movie even better. 

A Quiet Place: Day One not only is an exception to a film landscape overrun with sequels and prequels but is perhaps the best in the A Quiet Place series. The prequel is filled with emotion, high stakes, and is more thoughtful than any of the previous installments. A Quiet Place: Day One is an exploration of the resilience of everyday people set in the backdrop of a disaster, alien setting. 

Grade: B+

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: Best Original Score, Best Sound

Release Date: June 28, 2024
Where to Watch: In Theaters