A Quiet Place: Day One Review | Lupita Nyong’o Shines in a Predictable Blockbuster Prequel

Sam (Lupita Nyong’o) expresses her extreme displeasure at another group therapy session in a depressing hospice care center. Reuben (Alex Wolff), the facility’s head nurse, hopes Sam’s writing will help her mood and give the other patients some hope. Let’s just say Sam’s poem isn’t what he expected. She returns to her room for another pain management patch. She cradles her beloved cat the whole time. He’s on a leash, remarkably obedient, and inexplicably never purrs or meows.

Reuben informs the patients they’ve been approved for a field trip to Manhattan. The depressed Sam lights up when Reuben allows her to get a slice of pizza. She misses her home and every semblance of normalcy. The bus into the city is buzzed above by fighter jets streaking across the skyline. Sam listens to music on her headphones while stroking her feline bestie. She’s completely oblivious to police cars racing by as they arrive in Chinatown.

Sam’s excitement fizzles once she realizes where Reuben is taking them. A boy smiles at her cat as the patients are seated. Henri (Djimon Hounsou), his father, sees the frail and emaciated woman with honest pity. Sam decides to abscond for her treasured pizza. She doesn’t notice fiery meteors hurtling to the ground from above.

Mass Destruction with Great Effects

A Quiet Place: Day One captures the chaotic destruction, mass panic, and merciless killing of the alien assault. The action is seen primarily from Sam’s perspective. The audience is in her shoes as the world literally ends around her. You experience her fear and confusion once the proverbial poop hits the fan. Sam’s first encounter with the alien’s savagery is one of the film’s best scenes. Nyong’o’s shaking and stupefied reaction to that gut-punch moment of death incarnate’s monstrous manifestation sets the apocalyptic stage. Where the film goes from that point is mixed depending on your expectations.

The visual effects and production design team deserve the most credit. A Quiet Place: Day One looks believable. It has an Independence Day vibe of total calamity. Scenes of the meteors pummeling buildings, releasing the critters like raging hornets, and the military’s ‘blow stuff up’ response are all pure eye candy.

The focus then shifts to more intimate survival scenarios where frightened people try to shelter in ruins without making a peep. We also get close-up shots of the swarming aliens as they snatch the terrified like boogeymen. But not a drop of blood is shed to preserve the PG-13 rating. The film definitely works as a big-budget, popcorn cinema experience.

A Noiseless Cat Subplot

Writer/director Michael Sarnoski (Pig) is hit-and-miss in his execution. He absolutely nails the visuals, pacing, jump scares, and compassion for Sam as she struggles to deal with her painful illness.

A massive problem concerns the creatures’ ability to detect victims hiding literally under their asterix aperture craniums. There’s no consistency with how they deal with different levels of sound. You’re dead meat if you run and scream, but some people die making barely imperceptible noise while others escape in similar situations doing the same thing. This happens repeatedly and doesn’t make sense. The slaughter is erratic in this regard. It can’t be. Note to producers John Krasinski and Michael Bay: the franchise has to clearly define what decibel levels trigger the aliens’ response.

Cat lovers, please don’t send hate mail, but the film’s cat subplot veers into stupidity. Cats are naturally stealthy; that’s clearly understood. But they’re not mute and completely silent like furry ninjas. Sam’s cat becomes a ridiculous tool for Sarnoski’s hold-your-breath set-ups. The furry protagonist can be within mere inches of an alien and not be detected because he’s unrealistically quiet. No purrs, hisses, or even kitty breaths are audible. Go to YouTube and watch what happens when a cat gets wet or is tossed into water. They aren’t soundless. The cat shenanigans are a bridge too far. One scene in particular drives disbelief off a cliff.

We Learn Nothing More About the Aliens

A Quiet Place: Day One doesn’t give any new information about the aliens. We’re three films deep and still clueless about their origin, organizational structure, intellectual capacity, and whether they’re an army or weapon for something else. This is humanity’s first encounter with them, but Krasinski has to throw us an alien bone at this juncture. The franchise is in danger of becoming a one-trick pony if the lack of alien exposition continues. That said, most summer audiences will be entertained. Nyong’o owns this film. It wouldn’t be nearly as impactful without her.

A Quiet Place: Day One is a production of Platinum Dunes and Sunday Night Productions. It will be released theatrically on June 28th from Paramount Pictures.