Looking back at A Quiet Place, there’s little doubt that the impact and inventiveness of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods original story and characters have made an impression in the world of modern day post-apocalyptic thriller/horrors.

The first John Krasinski directed-film smartly setup up a world of the unknown, alongside gradual reveals that showed us a place beyond a world of screams, as we collectively stepped inside silence as the go-to fear level, playing on natural survival in many respects, meaning that certain levels of intelligence and human connection became vital in the narrative. And then they followed it up with A Quiet Place Part II, which kept that brilliant idea going – lead by a stellar performance from Millicent Simmonds.

A Quiet Place Day One, as the title suggests, takes us all the way back to New York and the beginning of the global invasion of the fan-named ‘death angels’ – who arrive via space, much like comets, and land The War of the Worlds style to devour pretty much anything that makes a sound. The malevolent alien isn’t a new narrative structure, but this flip remains fresh, and it works in this vision from Michael Sarnoski, who writes and directs this prequel.

While the trailer pushed the chase aspects, in the predictable marketing way, what’s actually deeply refreshing is the ground-level human story at the centre of A Quiet Place Day One, led by the tremendously brilliant Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Samira. We first join her in a hospice on the outskirts of NYC and learn that she’s a terminally ill cancer patient, but also that she’s deep in a negative frame of mind and barely maintain relationships, even in her day-to-day existence. She’s a sad, but interesting character, and we’re offered a sense of connection when we meet her service cat, Frodo, suggesting that she does care and comfort does help, even if her outward attitude is understandably struggling.

However, during a day trip into Manhattan, NYC to see a marionette show, everyone’s existence takes a turn towards chaos when the meteor-aliens hit Earth and being wreaking havoc. During the initial landings of the creatures, she’s knocked out cold after a series of explosions but it’s not long before she reawakens inside the theatre she’s just left, along with a collection of people all sat in sheer fear and silence (including roles for Djimon Hounsou and Alex Wolff), as the roars and screams of the outside world linger all around their temporary safe space.

After a series of survival events, Samira decides she wants pizza to end her day and she’s doing it alone, a desire which has a connection to her late Father – and memories of a life before cancer and distress – and so she sets off against the crowd to make her own wish come true, complete with her cat Frodo, even fighting ever-depleting energy, as her sickness begins to take over. But she won’t head out on her quest alone because it’s not long before she bumps into Eric (an also outstanding Joseph Quinn), who via the cat Frodo is led into the path of Sam(ira) and, thus, a relationship begins to grow – but more of an unexpected friendship, as Sam wants to go it alone, but Eric can barely stay away from panic attacks in highly stressful situations – and we know that traumatic moments are certainly high on the agenda right now… from here, the journey really begins.

What I particularly enjoyed about Sarnoski’s film is that while the audience is now aware of the main threat, and how it’s always there, he’s created a story that you can connect with in an empathic sense, and this is due to first-class performances from Nyong’o and Quinn, as well as the best cat actor(s) (kudos to the real-life Nico and Schnitzel!) you’ll see on screen – so much so I had to remind myself to stop watching the cat act, and pay attention to the wider story.

There’s great cinematography from Simon Bowles who, along with the director, implement a grainy, uncompromising street scene vibe to everything, it feels lived in, the characters troubles reflect the situation and although the overall story is mainly about these three central characters, the chaos of the alien invasion all around them does remain, but it’s less of a focus and only applied when needed.

And I loved this process, much like Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla, where character is key and the spectacle is effective when the creatures attack but that’s almost a sideline, which enables you to centre in on Sam and Eric, and Frodo, with the hope they might escape but you’re not quite sure if they will – and will they? Well, that’s down to you to find out. Impressively intense when it needs to be, yet down-to-ground-level as it can be during an apocalyptic invasion, and the central thread offers an emotional connection that’s worth investing in.

Special Features

There’s also a fine selection of extras to delve into, with a host of featurettes I’ve listed below. I particularly enjoyed ‘Pizza at the End of the World’, but also have a watch of the deleted scenes which extend a couple of moments including deeper backstory for Eric, which we don’t learn about in the final cut, but I can see why it was cut down in terms of pacing. Additionally, check out the featurettes for a look at the smart use of set building, which connects interestingly to how and where it was filmed, as it’s very impressive.

A Quiet Place Day One is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD – order here: https://amzn.to/3BRt8oL