Six years ago, John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place took the world by storm with the first entry. It deserved enough praise and profit that it spawned a follow up in 2020 or 2021 according to how you view time during the pandemic lockdown. By the time both films came out, it gave Paramount more than enough confidence to expand this into a franchise. What better way to do it than going back to the beginning and showing what the event looked like in a major city.

While this could be considered a prequel to the first two movies, the second movie briefly showed the start of all of this at the beginning of that film. The latest film manages to fill in some gaps of how quickly went things down, it also manages to expand the franchise this time around. In the prequel/spin-off, we follow Sam, played by Lupita Nyong’o, as she navigates around New York City during the beginning states of an alien invasion from creates who attack at things based on what they can hear. During her journey, she comes across Eric, played by Joseph Quinn, who she helps get to safety, as well find meaning in life.

That’s the best way to explain the plot to anyone who hasn’t seen it. Anything more and I’d be giving away spoilers. I tend to avoid trailers as they give important things away. While it seemed like that would be the case with the film, the film somehow subverts expectations through its characters and structure. That’s all I will say about that. The marketing will go down as amongst the best of the year in a year that has been surprisingly effective in marketing movies.

With my love for the first two films, I went in with high expectations, yet I still tried my best to manage them. As much as I get excited for a new entry in this franchise, this one seemed like it didn’t exactly have what I was looking for in a new entry. Even though the film takes a strong emotional perspective thanks to Michael Sarnoski’s direction, there are a few aspects in the beginning that become too convenient in order to get the plot going. Outside of that, we are also three movies into this franchise, and we still don’t quite know why these aliens are here. There are a few hints that are given that makes me connect the dots, but there is nothing concrete. This didn’t really bother me in particular; however, I hope the future of the franchise will began to give us more out of the lore for the story.

Lupita Nyong’o happens to be in my top 10 favorite actresses working today. Having her in this story was such a smart move as she has to convey so much with her facial expressions. She is quite smart, knows how to pick up on things quickly, and makes her the perfect character to follow in a large group of people. There are emotional stakes with her character, and what better person that Nyong’o. Her chemistry with Joseph Quinn is also off the charts. You can see such a strong emotional connection between the two that became one of the reasons I was on the verge of tears.

When director Michael Sarnoski took over directing duties from Jeff Nichols, I did think this was an interesting choice as Sarnoski only really had one major movie that I had seen. Don’t get me wrong, his film, Pig, was extremely effective in emotion. That’s what makes Sarnoski the perfect fit for a story like this. I have seen some criticisms in the story. To me, it didn’t bother me as Sarnoski shows the emotional turmoil that can happen in such a large community of people and how they continue to be there for each other. That also makes New York City the perfect place for this. The people there are there for each other. Seeing Nyong’o go out of her way for the things that she did is an incredible reminder as to what humans can do for each other when in the face of evil.

This time around, the scares are also more effective. Sarnoski understands this fine balance between drama and horror. Just as things seem to be going okay in the film, a scare comes up out of the blue. There probably the most effective out of the all of the films. The creature design gives more detail than ever before and when they do show up, the stakes are at the film’s highest. The sound design once again makes you want to stay silent in the theater and pay attention to the screen. Finally, the cinematography looks very life-life and brings you in on a world that feels easy to connect with.

Overall, what elevates A Quiet Place: Day One beyond just something typical is having a director that delivers on the human drama and the scares. You will jump out of your seat, laugh, and at least get a little teary-eyed as you watch these characters just trying to survive in a new world. Lupita Nyong’o continues to be the exact reason why she’s one of my favorite actresses working today & Joseph Quinn is most definitely a star after this. I can’t wait to see what this franchise does. As long as it prioritizes human drama with exploring more lore, I think we are in good hands going forward.

VERDICT: 4.5/5 – Amazing