A Quiet Place: Day One
In changing the main characters of “A Quiet Place” away from the family we came to know in the original film, “Day One” is doing something I’m always supportive of in franchises- showing us different sides of the world being created. There really wasn’t much more to be said with the Abbott’s after the first two films anyway; plus, horror and sci-fi movies can move away from established characters easier than other genres. How this film does it is why “Day One” is not only my favorite film of the franchise, but one of my favorites of 2024.
One of the things people appreciated the most from the first two films was the performance by Millicent Simmonds, who is actually deaf, as Regan, the older sister of the Abbott family. Simmonds not only gave technically fantastic performances, but, in being deaf in real life, the films made ASL a fundamental part of the world John Krasinski and writers Bryan Woods and Scott Beck were creating, allowing people with disabilities to see something in them, and the possibility that even at the end of the world, you are able to survive if the support system is in place. “Day One” takes that in a different direction with writer/director Michael Sarnoski (“Pig”) at the helm, and it’s why this film hit me the way it did.
This time, our main character is Samira (Lupita Nyong’o). We first see her in a hospice facility just outside of New York City in a cancer support group. She shares a poem with the group- it’s pretty vulgar- but it gives us a glimpse into her outlook. Hospice care gives us the awareness that there is not much time left for her, but after the group, her nurse (Alex Wolff) has an outing for them to go to in the city. The promise of pizza gets her to go, but an unexpected disturbance forces the trip short. The first alien attack leaves them stranded, with Samira only having Reuben, Wolff’s character, and her support cat to comfort her.
I think one of the strongest aspects of the “Quiet Place” franchise is how it inherently relies more of character interactions that jump scares and terror. Certainly the first two films had their fair share of the latter, but so many of the best moments in the film were about characters connecting, and finding ways to work together to protect one another. In “Day One,” this comes more into focus when- after Samira is alone, and separated from her cat- her cat leads a fellow loner in the city, Eric (Joseph Quinn), to her. When we meet him, the well-tailored man is catching his breath from a flooded subway entrance. Samira does not want him following her, but he does, and the bond they form aids them both. As we get to know Eric, who has come to the US from the UK to be a performer, we see that he has anxiety and panic attacks; our introduction was not an isolated moment. They both need support in this moment, and they each make for a good partner at this time. Nothing is ever romantic between them- they are each in survival mode, but because the other needs them, they rise to the occasion. Eric being prone to anxiety and panic attacks is a choice that really resonated with me; panic attacks are minimal for me, but the anxiety of moments is something I’m acutely aware of, and this film illustrates quite well. Nyong’o and Quinn are fantastic in this film, and I felt their care for one another powerfully up to the end.
As a continuation of the universe, “Day One” is building more off of what’s established in the earlier films that bringing much new, and that is fine. Sarnoski does a terrific job of building and releasing tension throughout the film, and crafts some of the franchise’s most suspenseful moments. I was locked in from the first moment, and even when one sees where the film is going, “Day One” still has surprises in how it is delivered. That, three films in, a genre series can still catch me off guard speaks to how some filmmakers just get it, especially when they’re given the chance to do something all their own.
