A Quiet Place: Day One

A Quiet Place: Day One narrows the focus from the aliens and suspense of the first two films, to the touching story of two lost strangers who are dependent on each other for survival. 

Writer-director Michael Sarnoski—known for his work on the charming and surprising comedy, Pig— has enhanced the franchise to a new level.

A Quiet Place: Day One takes place on the very first day of the alien invasion, we don’t learn much about the aliens’ history, motivations, or where they came from, but Sarnoski wisely recognises that’s not always a bad thing. Like a terrorist attack or a bolt of lightning, they appear out of nowhere and wreck everything in their path.

Lupita Nyong’o (Twelve Years A Slave) delivers a staunch performance as Sam, a woman who, while visiting New York City for the day, finds herself alone in the middle of an alien invasion caused by creatures with super-hearing. Our intrepid hero and her Oscar-performance-worthy cat, Frodo, guide us through the mayhem.

Sarnoski wastes no time responding to the alien invasion. After a brief introduction that explains Sam’s dilemma in detail, things take a turn for the worse. As a result, the air is filled with smoke and dust, and monstrous creatures snatch mankind away to their destruction. 

One of the most surprising successes of the season, this breathtaking character-based drama discreetly reminds us that it’s also a monster picture. The relative quietness of A Quiet Place: Day One, may come as a surprise to those expecting a cheesy monster movie with standard horrors and thrills. 

A Quiet Place: Day One, shows there’s a lot more to explore in the Quiet Place-universe. Great performances by Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn complement the plot’s emotionally driven and eerily gorgeous aesthetic, along with a sweeping, intense musical score. 

Take a trip to a theatre and experience it there from Friday, 28 June.

-Dirk Lombard Fourie