When “A Quiet Place” premiered in 2018, I thought it was a unique gimmick and definitely a great theatrical experience, but I wasn’t as blown away by it as many people were. When the sequel rolled around, I was even less invested. But I loved Michael Sarnoski’s movie “Pig,” and I think Lupita Nyong’o proved her horror chops in “Us,” so I was willing to give “A Quiet Place: Day One” a chance.
When a group from the hospice center where Samira (Lupita Nyong’o) is staying heads to New York City for a show, she is hesitant to go. But Nurse Rueben (Alex Wolff) convinces her to make the trip, promising they can stop for a slice of pizza while they’re in the city. As they are preparing to make the trip to get that slice, the city is attacked by murderous aliens. Seeing that the situation seems hopeless, Samira decides to go find that piece of pizza with her cat but ends up being followed by Eric (Joseph Quinn). Now, they must try to find a way to be rescued.
“Day One” suffers from the same problem that the second “Quiet Place” film had, which is that it doesn’t build the world in any appreciable way. One of the things I was most looking forward to in this prequel was how people tried to fight back against the alien “death angels.” In the first ten minutes, everyone seems to know that sound draws the monsters, and within a day, they understand that they can’t swim. But somehow, we see no attempts to destroy them.
All of that might be fine if the movie played heavily on the silent aspect, but even that is undercut by regular ambient sound and a very present score. There never seems to be any tension because this offering lacks the utter silence of the first film. For a movie that bills itself as horror, no actual horror is present.
The performances are still quite good, especially the chemistry between Nyong’o and Quinn. There is one scene in their journey that is so charming it saves this from being a complete waste of time. But even so, the surrounding characters are underdeveloped and serve no purpose. Alex Wolff has some serious horror chops that go untapped, and while Djimon Hounsou is incredibly talented, he never has an opportunity to flex his acting muscles either.
When movies have sequels and prequels, the question I ask myself is, “How does this further the story?” In plenty of cases, there is more to be explored, either through deeper character development or perhaps through additional world-building. That may or may not be done in a way that comes together, but the actual legitimacy of the movie still stands. Unfortunately, when I ask that question about “A Quiet Place: Day One,” I come up empty. I guess that must be really good pizza.
Alise Chaffins is a Morgantown writer who loves movies and sharing her opinions. She reviews a movie from a streaming service every Saturday and one newly in theaters every Sunday. Find more at MacGuffin or Meaning on Substack.
