Movie: A Quiet Place: Day One
Production Company: Platinum Dunes, Sunday Night
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Producers: Michael Bay, John Krasinski
Main Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn
Release Date; 28th June 2024
Running Time: 104 minutes
Certificate: 15
Introduction: The third installment of the horror series is a nerve-shredding rollercoaster – and it is one of the best survival horror films ever made.
Synopsis: We follow two characters, Samara (Lupita Nyong’o) and Eric (Joseph Quinn), as they attempt to survive and escape New York on the day the aliens first arrive.
Analysis: Back in 2018, John Krasinski’s ‘A Quiet Place’ thrust cinemagoers into a new realm of horror and anxiety-inducing terror the likes of which they had never seen (or heard) before, made all the more impressive by the fact that it was a directorial debut by someone who had never experimented with the genre before (he’ll always the lovable and goofy Jim Halpert in my heart). Because of the colossal smash hit that it turned out to be (grossing $340 million dollars on a $17 million dollar budget and earning an Oscar nomination for – ironically – best sound), an inevitable sequel was spawned.
‘A Quiet Place: Part Two’ was not as good as its predecessor, but still (crucially) remembered what made the first so good, as is the case here. Now, Krasinski hands the reigns over to writer/director Michael Sarnoski (but still has a writing and producing credit) who introduces you to a whole new level of heart-pounding jump-scares and an emotionally engaging story. This also marks he first horror as well; it is now clear that those who have never dipped their toe into it conjure the best ones. Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn are fantastic here and, however limited dialogue they have, share great chemistry. I would’ve liked to see more of Djimon Hounsou.
Naturally, considering the franchise’s track record, I went into Day One intrigued to see if it was able to live up to those that have come before and, upon heavy contemplation; this was somehow able to give the first a run for it’s money and proved to be stronger than the second. This fits neatly in-between the two. Now, entirely granted, ‘A Quiet Place’ walked so this could run, yet I found myself so consistently blown away by it’s execution and just how well it was able to capture that vital sense of terror that made the others work so well; so much so that I flirted with the possibility that this may have surpassed it.
Since no word building is required this time around (because one and two did that), that paves the way for the film to have more fun and action. Michael Sarnoski perfectly understands how the world works which is exactly what your’e looking for. The emotive heart beats this time around are just as powerful and so beautifully effective, if not more. The level at which they dive to does show how much they thought it through.
I did not expect to be this impressed. Individual set pieces thrust you into a sudden moment of holding your breath, some just as excruciating as before (although NOTHING will top that bathtub sequence in the first film which will go down as one of the best moments of all time in horror). The orchestration is extraordinary. This also marked the first time in which I did not care what the quality of the film would be but more what the experience was going to be like watching it; the only time when the only thing I worried about was the audience. Given the current declining state of cinema etiquette and the very delicate nature of the film, I was very trepidatious about what kind of behaviour I’d see and hear (especially after recent times). I also despise the fact that we are in a time where I now have to say that.
Thankfully, I breathed a huge sigh of relief as they were all well behaved and I do think everyone who goes will realize the strict adherence you will simply need to have for this (although the gentlemen next to me did have popcorn which he loudly ate for the first twenty or thirty minutes and I couldn’t have been happier when he placed it on the floor). I hope everyone’s is like this. Your own cinematic experience of this does also play a vital role. I thoroughly recommend that you find the loudest sound system possible, for a film with such a title, it is one of the loudest experiences I have ever had; although I was not quite sure if it was the film’s own design (if it was then it was some of the best I have encountered) or the screen’s (do IMAX if you can, but a good cinema environment will suffice nonetheless).
This is the most i have jumped in a film in my entire life and by far the jumpiest one so far. The film also makes a deliberate artistic choice to have all the diegetic sounds (everything you hear in the film) as amplified as possible which works to an absolute treat (some captions at the beginning very cleverly allude to this). However, and I cannot stress this enough, do not take any form of snack into this.
In cinema Friday.
Overall Rating: 10/10 – Perfect
Target Audience: 15+
Content Warning: strong horror, bloody images
Recommendation: Yes
