A Quiet Place – THE REVIEW MONSTER

I love the first two A Quiet Place movies.
Directed by John Krasinski, the films depicted the emotionally thrilling story of a family’s survival in an apocalypse where the slightest sound could get you killed.
One thing these two movies did especially well was set up a world of potential stories about other survivors’ experiences.
Well, we got the first of these spin off stories with A Quiet Place: Day One.

We see society quickly fall apart when the creatures arrive.

This time directed by Michael Sarnoski, with Krasinski writing and producing the film, Day One follows Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), a terminal cancer patient who is caught up in the chaos of the alien invasion.
Sam presents a unique perspective to the world of A Quiet Place because, while everyone else is trying to survive, Sam is simply trying to last long enough to experience a joy she had in life prior to her diagnosis.

Sam’s goal is surprisingly relatable, and Nyong’o plays her well.

Joining her is the cat Frodo, and a fellow survivor named Eric, played by Joseph Quinn.
Quinn had his breakout role in Stranger Things, and it is good to see him doing another great job in Day One.
He and Nyong’o have excellent chemistry, perfectly portraying the friendship that emerges between them in the apocalypse.
This results in quite a few emotional scenes, as well as some nail-biting ones, since I cared about both of their fates.

The film follows Sam and Eric, as their bond grows while they desperately try to survive.

Although, nail biting is probably too strong of a word, considering that doing so would literally get me killed in the world of A Quiet Place.
Just like the previous two films, Day One finds creative ways to use sound, resulting in numerous tense scenes where you either wait for the creatures to strike, or hope that the sound the characters made were out of the monsters’ earshot.
Another thing taken from A Quiet Place Part 2 is Henri, played by Djimon Hounsou.
He plays a significant role in the beginning of the film, and it was good to see him again after the small role he played in Part 2.

His appearance in *Day One* makes me hopeful we might see some characters from this film appear in *A Quiet Place Part 3.*

So, I have listed all the good things about Day One and now it is time for my criticisms.
They are pretty minor but still there.
The first of these issues is that I wish we got to see the characters realizing that the aliens respond to sound.
Sam is just knocked unconscious and when she wakes up again all the characters are immediately told how to survive.

I would have liked it more if there was a slow build to the realization of sound being key to survival.

Another minor issue I have is Frodo.
Yes, the cat is cute, but it is pretty unbelievable that it stays quiet the whole movie.
Like I said, minor issues, but nothing that derails the movie.
Day One is another solid entry in the A Quiet Place franchise.
It has great performances from the two leads, incredibly tense scenes, and an emotional ending to boot.
I still cannot wait for A Quiet Place Part 3, and I am interested to see if Day One influences it in any way.

A Quiet Place, directed by John Krasinski, feels like a lot like 2018’s version of Get Out.
A smart horror movie with brilliant setup and payoffs.
Set in a post apocalyptic world where monsters that look like the Demogorgon from Stranger Things hunt humans who make any sound.
The Abbott family has learned to survive by being quiet though, most likely due to the deaf daughter of the family, Regan, played by Millicent Simmonds.
Right from the get-go, A Quiet Place is filled to the brim with tension.
The fact that the slightest sound could mean certain death for the characters is set up brilliantly in the opening minutes and really sets the stage for the pure, adrenaline fueled terror that is to follow.

This terror is further amplified by how much you come to care for the Abbott family, which is a success in of itself because they mostly talk through sign language.
The father, Lee, played by Krasinski himself, is especially likeable and so was his pregnant wife, Evelyn, played by Emily Blunt, who is actually Kransinski’s wife (although why their characters decided to have a baby in a world where any sound means an immanent and painful death is beyond me).
I also liked Regan and the other child, Marcus, played by Noah Jupe.
Coming to care about these characters over the course of the film really made it scarier because I feared for their safety.
This was proven for me when I found myself crying near the end of the film, you will know what scene I am talking about when you see it.
However, even though this film was a terrifying and intense ride, its scare factor was dulled by one thing.
The constant use of jump scares.
Jump scares can work for some films, like with IT last year, but A Quiet Place did not need them.
A Quiet Place uses sound brilliantly so it would have sense and been more unsettling had there not been a resounding boom of noise every time one of the monsters appeared.
Even worse, a lot of these were false jump scares where nothing bad was happening.
Jump scares are fine in some instances but false jump scares never are.
No one is impressed by them and I counted at least four instances of them.

It really is a shame because without the jump scares A Quiet Place would have been a five star film for me.
It is a non-stop, intense thrill ride with likeable characters and brilliant set ups and payoffs.

Tag: A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place: Day One Review: Another Solid Entry to the Franchise.

A Quiet Place: Set Ups, Payoffs and Jump Scares.