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A Quiet Place: Day One

It’s not often when a cinematic experience is completely dependent on the behavior of those around you, yet in A QUIET PLACE, that’s exactly what happened. In a world predicated in silence, and where sound is such an essential part of the intensity of the production, talkers, texters, and bag crinklers have the unique ability to wreak havoc on a film. Sure, these folks are obnoxious in the best of times, but when it comes to the QUIET PLACE franchise, their actions can be catastrophic. Considering the permeating silence throughout the packed theater when I saw A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE, however, there is tangible proof that this has become one of the most transformative series in cinema today.

As the title suggests, DAY ONE brings us back to the start of it all. Folks were going about their daily, noisy lives, oblivious to the horrors that were to come. Unfortunately for Samira (Lupita Nyong’o), her plight is more difficult than most. She is sick, and as she comes to terms with her rapidly approaching end, there are very few joys in life. With the promise of some genuine New York City pizza, she and her therapy cat, Frodo, board a bus with fellow hospice patients to catch a marionette show. From here, life on Earth changes forever.

Those expecting to get some sort of backstory on why the creatures arrived, or an insight on their method invasion, or anything resembling an explanation of any kind are going to be severely disappointed. One minute life is normal, and in the next, aliens are crawling on buildings, and ravaging the population of loudmouths with unparallelled savagery. The sequence is a rapid-fire explosion of violence, punctuated by blood-curdling screams and panicked cries for help. The creatures are lightening fast and impossibly strong and immediately decimate the population with a reckless abandon. Why they arrived doesn’t matter. They are here, and they will kill everything in sight.

After miraculously making their way back to the theater, Sam and Frodo discover that there are other survivors, and they have deduced that sound attracts the monsters. Though there are muffled cries and muted whispers, for the most part, the theater is a quiet place. This is in stark contrast to the cacophony of sound had been exhibited throughout the first act of the film, plunging the viewer back into the world that have grown to love and fear.

Sam, feeling as if she was already on borrowed time to begin with, refuses to await her fate while huddling with silent strangers. She started the day with the promise of pizza, and not even a brutal alien invasion will thwart her plans. With Frodo at her side, she embarks on a journey through the decimated city. She encounters other survivors and pairs up with Eric (Joseph Quinn). He is on his own and aimlessly wandering the city in a trauma-induced fog. Together, they are going to find some pizza, or die trying.

DAY ONE is consistently entertaining, and when it ended, I was shocked at how fast it had flown by. There are magnificent scenes of absolute carnage, with the merciless aliens eviscerating anyone who dares make a sound. The densely populated city setting is an engaging juxtaposition compared to the more rural settings we saw in the first two films. Though it doesn’t have the same emotional core that existed previously because of the Abbott family, Nyong’o gives yet another magnificent performance. Her fear is constantly palpable, as is her unwavering hope to experience one last pleasure in life.

A QUIET PLACE is a franchise that still feels exciting three films in. The novel idea of silence being a character in itself is exceedingly clever, expertly banking on the fact that anticipation is perhaps that most frightening thing of all. The reason THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT worked so well is because it effectively proved that what you don’t see is scarier than what you do. Your imagination fills in the blanks. With A QUIET PLACE, it’s the sheer knowledge that at any moment, something COULD jump out (and probably will) with even the slightest sound provocation. Maybe it’s the guy in the street who trips over a garbage can, or maybe it’s the person two rows ahead of you adjusting their straw.