In the era of apocalyptic films, audiences enter movie theatres in search of a glimmer of hope—to witness films, plays, and visual effects that are both compelling and entertaining to a certain extent. A Quiet Place: Day One, directed by Michael Sarnoski, is shining on the silver screen around the world. The director transports us to the core of the dreadful stillness that has engulfed the busiest metropolis in the world, encapsulating it in a coherent and compelling narrative. New York City is plagued by creatures that can cause devastation at the slightest sound. The story and the performance, coupled with the visual effects, created hours of horror and meaning.
A pessimistic, chronically ailing cancer patient named Samira “Sam” (Lupita Nyong’o) resides at a hospital outside of New York City with her cat, Frodo. Reuben, a nurse, persuades reluctant Sam to participate in a group excursion to a marionette performance in Manhattan. While in the metropolis, the group witnessed meteor-like objects plummeting from the sky. Following that, malevolent extraterrestrial entities assault the assembled crowd and pedestrians. The chaos renders Sam unconscious. Sam later wakes up inside the puppet theatre with Frodo and other survivors. While struggling with survival in the city, she encounters “Eric” (Joseph Quinn), an English law student, who escapes a flooded subway station.
When was the last time you enjoyed reading a piece of poetry while contemplating the meaning of life? Under the bombardment of words, keeping silent seems impossible and, to some extent, meaningless. But in A Quiet Place: Day One Sam makes us sit pensively and listen to what she reads: “The world is shit; it smells shit.” Lupita Nyong’o, the melancholic beauty who withstood the arrows of the power brokers in 12 Years A Slave, now sits down with her mysterious, gloomy eyes, reminding us that there is nothing but suffering ahead and that the real disastrous moments are about to crash down on her. Her absurd look and nonchalant behaviour, drowning in doubt, as well as her strong, touchy bond with Frodo, the phenomenal cat, is exemplary.
In contrast to A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II, which starred John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, the new film presents its own narrative, offering a significantly different perspective on the same event. Both of the previous franchises depict families coping with catastrophic events. In a post-apocalyptic world, a family is attempting to withstand an entity with hypersensitive hearing. The films, which prioritise family connection amid crises, resemble the apocalyptic scenarios that we have previously encountered. Father, mother, and children coexist in harmony in order to survive, and they confront the challenges of survival as heroes, whether for their family or the world. Previous films have depicted conventional relationships and forces. Nevertheless, the new narrative is characterised by the presence of two antagonistic forces. Unlike the stereotypical apocalyptic tales, this one brings two distinct perspectives on survival and calamity: one is a woman who is merely seeking a small extension of life in the face of cancer and is searching for the traces of her memories in the haunted city. The other character is a young man, consumed by apprehension about loss. Their interaction added a layer of meaning to the film’s excitement, which is a rare occurrence in films of the same genre.
The film’s turn and twist, along with the accompanying visual effect, could contribute to its plausibility. The director strikes at the right time—not too boisterous to destroy the excitement, but not too quiet and linear to bore. The alarm sound, the helicopters, and the monsters’ brutal attack on the people while they are hearing the voices of people or any other objects are all perfectly timed. A Quiet Place: Day One‘s sound effects and sound engineering deserve applause.
The inclusion of a cat beside Sam and Eric was a wise decision, as it remained silent and provided a thoughtful presence throughout the film. Sam is moving against the river of walking people, who are heading to the South Street Seaport to escape from the creatures by ship due to their inability to swim. These streams demonstrate that not all characters in the apocalyptic narrative are expected to be heroes, striving to find a way out of hell. It reminds us of how fragile and mortal we are as human beings.
A Quiet Place: Day One, which exemplifies the power of words hidden beneath the deafening noise, showcases the actors’ strong performance in silence, bringing forth poetry and deep whispers on screen. The horror of the brutal creatures is not greater than the terrible chaos we are suffering around us. We might need to turn off the world, put on our headphones, and listen to Nina Simone’s song, “It’s a new day, It’s a new dawn,” as Sam does.
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