A Quiet Place: Day One
review by Bobby Blakey
I love a good horror film, but even more so when the creative minds behind it aren’t usually known for that genre. Over the last few years, we’ve had Jordan Peele with Get Out & Us and the team of Danny McBride & David Gordon Green with Halloween. In 2018 The Office and Jack Ryan star John Krasinski surprised audiences with his entry into the genre A Quiet Place. The success of the film spawned the great sequel aptly titled A Quiet Place Part II in 2020. Now we are going back to the beginning with the next chapter A Quiet Place: Day One. Could this entry bring more of what made the first two work or should it have stayed silent?
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The official synopsis is simple and to the point only saying, experience the day the world went quiet. It obviously gives fans a look into the beginning of it all through the eyes of some new people and while Krasinski is involved as writer and producer, he has stepped aside this time around and PIG director Michael Sarnoski is at the helm. With a new story comes a new cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff and Djimon Hounsou.
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I always thought that this franchise could spin out in all kinds of directions with different time frames and families dealing with this event. I love the first two films so was eager to see some new blood to further expand this story, so heading in I was excited. The film does in fact deliver more of the same creature feature fun, but never can fully capture the greatness of the first two films.
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We already know the story of the creatures regarding their existence, but this new cast of characters is where the mystery is. This brings some interesting directions to the story with Lupita Nyong’o being the initial lead who is dealing with an illness adding to the dangers of what is already transpiring with the creatures. Her eventual pairing with Quinn is where it looks to bring the personal dynamic that
makes it something more and while they are both great in the film and together it never fully finds that something special like we got with the Abbott family.
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Anytime the creatures are on screen the film brings some fun and carnage much like what we’ve come to love from the previous entries. Where the film struggles most of all is the pacing. When there isn’t creature chaos going on the film slows down to a crawl and never really brings much that’s all that interesting. Both Quinn and Nyong’o bring a lot to their roles, but often feels repetitive and predictable. I loved them both and the creatures but found myself losing interest way too many times.
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Thankfully the connections to the second film with the underused Hounsou and the bigger use of the creatures keeps the film entertaining enough that it is still a decent enough entry to the franchise and will no doubt work for some. I know there has been word of them doing A Quiet Place 3 continuing the Abbott story, but still welcome other characters struggle for survival especially that of Hounsou himself who more than deserves his moment to shine.
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Decide for yourself and check out A Quiet Place: Day One in theaters now.