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Writer's pictureAlex Murray (Director)

Film Review: A Quiet Place: Day One



You always hear stories where new and original films have an exciting premise and concept that are so extraordinary and different that it promises to be a unique experience. A Quiet Place was one of those films. It was from The US Office actor, turned writer and director, John Krasinski. The idea of having a film where sound threatens the character’s lives changed the way audiences saw the survival thriller genre. Possibly capitalising on the success of Netflix’s Bird Box, this film held so many opportunities to develop further stories from this world. The result was a sequel that upped the tension and heightened the drama and now we are treated to a spin-off prequel centring on new characters and with a returning one too with A Quiet Place: Day One.


A Quiet Place: Day One takes place as the title suggests on the dawn of the arrival of these blind aliens who use sound to catch and kill their prey. With their prey being us, humans. The initial concept sounds entertaining and exciting as it could provide new and interesting ways to tell this War of the Worlds inspired story. Sadly though the film doesn’t seem to go in that direction, instead it opts to learn more about the humans and it centres on a particular character with Sam played by Lupita Nyong’o. Sam has cancer and is on deaths door. A visit to New York City during the start of this invasion sets her off on a journey of survival. Her perspective on the event is different due to her cancer which is slowly killing her, and all she wants to do is re-live her past. Her nostalgia drives her adventure and sadly this story feels really needless and uninteresting. Due to the nature of the film there is little dialogue and as a result the film relies on her emotions and body language. It is a shame the character of Sam is rather bland and unresponsive to other characters.


A Quiet Place: Day One also stars returning actor Djimon Hounsou, in a role that could have gone to anyone else and does not really develop his character at all, and the other co-lead is Joseph Quinn as Eric who comes into Sam’s life during the alien invasion. Eric and Sam develop a sort-of survival friendship. Eric is scared and tags along with Sam but we never truly know why as we get very little information on him. Luckily his charm and charisma is compelling enough for us to root for his survival. There is also a cat involved which Sam owns and provides a lot of set-ups for noisy encounters which risk Sam and Eric’s lives. Overall the film feels very by-the-books and lacking in any depth. The tension is there, but the joy of the first film was the unpredictable nature of the story and sadly that doesn’t come through with this film.


The film feels a bit too safe when it comes to the storytelling. The characters have a goal and they reach it, and the ending is a little bit satisfactory even if you can see it coming earlier in the film. It feels like there could have been more done to make the film succeed. The camera work and style of the film feels heavily influenced by recent hit TV show The Last of Us, and there is a lot of comparisons to other similar films such as I Am Legend and Cloverfield too. It never feels unique or different enough as it appears that not many risks were taken. It is a safe film which doesn’t add too much to the mythology of the series and neglects a lot of the lore and backstory of the aliens. I would love to see more perspectives on this invasion but this was one perspective that I certainly felt didn’t need sharing. 


★★☆☆☆

2/5


Final Verdict:


A Quiet Place: Day One is a lacklustre film which is driven by two very charismatic leads but sadly written very thinly and poorly by filmmaker Michael Sarnoski. Despite the initial concept of exploring more of what happened during the invasion the film opts to instead focus on the characters and we are still left with more questions than answers as to how and why these aliens landed on the planet. The spectacle and tension is there, but for those wanting more you may sadly not find it in this apocalyptic dud.


Thanks for reading today’s blog!

Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions

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