IN THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS // A FILM REVIEW OF “A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE”
BY MATEO MORENO
Since leaving the hit NBC sitcom The Office, John Krasinski has made a very different kind of career, with a huge highlight being him directing A Quiet Place and it’s also superb sequel A Quiet Place 2. Both of those films shook audiences to the core with its scary, silent thriller ways and the critics agreed. Both were pretty universally beloved. Now, Krasinski steps away from the directors chair (but still shares a co-story credit) for the latest installment, A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE. It’s a prequel set years before the first movie in an entirely different city and an entirely different set of characters (with 0ne notable exception). Lupita Nyong’o leads the stellar cast here playing Sam, a terminally ill woman living in hospice care. Her nurse Reuben tries to look after Sam and invites her to join a group of others who are heading into the city (New York City, to be precise) to see a show. She pushes back at first, only relenting when Reuben promises that they can get a slice of New York pizza before they come back home. She heads into the city, along with her cat Frodo, and they end up at a marionette show. Reuben gets a call from the hospice center saying there’s an issue in the city and they need to head back immediately. Because of the immediacy of it, Sam is heartbroken when Reuben says they can’t stop for the slice after all. Of course once they get on the bus to head home, all hell breaks loose, literally. Since this is day one, we see the sky falling with aliens (we previously saw Day 1 as the intro in the sequel) but since this is set in Manhattan, the destruction is tremendous.
If you’ve seen the other films (and honestly, the film works whether you have or haven’t) you’ll know that the alien creatures can’t see but only respond to sound. Something that the citizens of NYC quickly start to figure out. But since NYC has so much sound coming out of it anyway, they are able to “hide” under the sound of rain, of a fountain or even lightening and make small amounts of sound. Unlike the first two films, which are nearly non-stop action, the prequel takes a slightly different approach. Yes, it has some very impressive action scenes and very harrowing chases as they flee the aliens. But it also is wrapped in a very tender story, one that takes a slower approach to tell. And it works. It sets itself apart from the other two, telling a similar story that fans will love but by changing up the pace, it very much makes a different imprint. Lupita Nyong’o is stunning as Sam, both heartbreaking and thrilling. She tells just as much with her silent scenes as her scenes involving dialogue and her story lands with an emotional wallop. She spends most of the first part of the film alone and is joined in the second part by Eric (Joseph Quinn), a shell-shocked British law student. Quinn turns in some fine work as well and the direction by Sarnoski is taught and thrilling. Fans of the first two will be quite pleased with this one, but may be surprised how tender it also. Hey, it’s alright. It’s the end of the world. We can get emotional.
GRADE: A-
BASED ON THE CHARACTERS CREATED BY Bryan Woods, Scott Beck STORY BY John Krasinski, Michael Sarnoski SCREENPLAY AND DIRECTED BY Michael Sarnoski STARRING Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou NOW PLAYING IN THEATRES EVERYWHERE