A Quiet Place: Day 1, the review of the prequel film

There is a detail, a single moment experienced during the press screening of A Quiet Place: Day 1 which makes us understand how strong the idea is, and how well the new film manages to support it: in the middle of a scene of tension and hunting of the creatures that have invaded our planet, the smart watch of the person writing to you he issued a notification and his hand flew to cover the dial to silence him. It was the confirmation of an idea, the one at the basis of the saga started by John Krasinski in 2018, with great imaginative impact and enormous narrative potential that the production inevitably intends to exploit again (and again?). And Krasinski does it himself, here co-author of the story with director Michael Sarnoski (already author of the good Pig), taking up the same suggestions and moving them to a different moment in the evolution of the story of A Quiet Place: at the origins of everything.

The plot that brings us to the beginning of the invasion

And those origins, that incipit of an invasion that we know well, falls upon New York, following the protagonist Sam, a terminally ill patient on a trip with other patients from the institute where she is hospitalized during an excursion to the city with the aim of attending a theater show and, above all for the woman, taking the opportunity to eat a good pizza. And it is precisely while they are in the chaotic streets of the city that everything begins, in a suggestive and dramatic way, with trails of fire in the sky and the arrival of the beings that we met in the two previous films of the series: one after the other, the passers-by in a panic they are attacked and eliminated, leaving little room for doubt: the predators follow the noises they emit and the only salvation is not to produce sounds.

After a start that ours shines through noisy normality, the peculiarities of the saga take over and the survivors must move and communicate while trying not to cause any kind of noise. Talking is prohibited, obviously, but also stepping on anything that could break, bumping into objects or any possible event that could attract the attention of the monsters that are invading our planet.

Enjoy the Silence. The wonderful atmosphere of A Quiet Place: Day 1

The basic idea of ​​the saga returns, predominant and in an always effective way A Quiet Place with that unique atmosphere that accompanies the story that is told to us. If on the one hand the novelty is obviously missing, on the other it is interesting how the theme is introduced right from the initial caption, which underlines how New York produces a constant amount of decibels equal to that of a screaming human being. A simple introductory note, while the noise basically it mounts and becomes oppressive, which immediately outlines the context in which we are going to move and the world we have created and in which we find ourselves constantly living, especially if we are citizens of a crowded and chaotic metropolis. In this, despite lacking the novelty that the first film could have, A Quiet Place: Day 1 manages to add a further level of interpretation to the assumptions of the saga.

But, in parallel, the film involves us with a successful and intriguing protagonistwell played by a good one Lupita Nyong’o: his Sam is strong, determined and exciting in terms of construction and development, and goes well with Joseph Quinn’s supporting character Eric, who we meet again with pleasure after having loved him in Stranger Things. If the two of them work well and support the narrative and emotional construction of the film, accompanied by Sam’s magnificent cat who risks stealing the scene several times, it is certainly a shame that the other figures that revolve around them struggle to find space and depth , also in the case of Djimon Hounsou’s Henri, who also presents himself as a character with good potential.

An essential but effective development

If we can consider a defect theessentiality of the writing and the lack of in-depth analysis, is in reality the natural consequence of a dry and direct narrative construction, which takes on long delays that would have diluted the timing of the action and tension, watering down the yield: A Quiet Place: Day 1 he doesn’t waste time building something we already know or explaining details that his own characters don’t know, he simply follows them in their silent struggle for survival, on the path towards a salvation that is difficult to achieve. Michael Sarnoski, therefore, guides us on this path by putting together sequences that transmit anxiety and tension, but also touching moments in which emotions take over. And in this, his film works properly, without overdoing it and with the right timing to never slip into moments of tiredness or boredom. To delve deeper into the world of A Quiet Place we are sure that we will have other opportunities in the future, because the idea is too powerful not to take it up again in further chapters of the saga.