A Quiet Place – Day 1 It is the third film in the franchise A Quiet Placelocated halfway between a prequel and a spin-off, even if it tends more towards the latter category. Directed by Michael Sarnoski, who co-wrote the screenplay with John Krasinski (already a collaborator in the previous chapters and interpreter of Lee Abbott), the film fails to meet the expectations created by the promotional campaign. In particular by that expectation of answers generated by the slogan on the posters and in the trailers: “Find out why the world has fallen silent“.
If the previous chapters can boast a certain originality in narrating the story of an alien invasion, making the viewer experience the drama of a family ready to do anything to save survive the invadersthis prequel/spin-off relies exclusively on the world building already consolidated by the previous films, without adding anything new. Furthermore, it is very reminiscent of the 2008 film Cloverfieldwith the only difference that A Quiet Place – Day 1 it is not shot in found footage style, ending up looking like a remake made with a classic cinematic language.
A misleading promotion
A Quiet Place of 2018 introduced us to a world plunged into silence due to beings coming from the sky who attack anything that makes a noise. Unforgettable is the opening scene in which the youngest of the Abbott children is taken by the alien predator as soon as he activates thetoy plane. From that moment, we experience the drama of the Abbott family, who in addition to having to survive, must try to overcome that terrible loss. Furthermore, at the end of the first film, we discover the way to destroy the invaders.
In the second chapter, we continue to follow the drama of the family, recovering from another important loss, while looking for a place to return to. feel safe and, at the same time, a way to communicate to the world how to destroy the aliens and reclaim the earth. Through flashbacks, we also see the moment of the arrival of the invaders from space and what the world was like before, prey to the deafening noise of industrialization. A world that had forgotten the pleasant sound of silence, appreciated only when it lost everything. For worse, for better. A subtle criticism of technological progress, as well as a representation of the fear inherent in Americans of being invaded at any moment.
A Quiet Place – Day 1with the catchy phrase “Find out why the world has fallen into silence”, can raise two questions in the viewer: either the film reveals the reason for the arrival of the aliens, overturning every presupposition of the previous chapters, or it tells how people have learned to coexist with the invaders, understanding how to survive. The film, however, does not show anything new, resulting simply in a new narrative set in the world of A Quiet Place and nothing more, leading the viewer to think that he has fallen victim to a misleading promotion.
Is A Quiet Place – Day 1 worth it?
A Quiet Place – Day 1 is it worth it? And did we really need this prequel/spin-off? The answer to the second question is no, since the film does not add anything new to the saga. Let’s take for example the prequel of Hunger Gameswhich instead offers the viewer a different and more in-depth perspective on that world, taking as its protagonist a character from the enemy faction already known in the main trilogy: President Snow, played in the first chapters by Donald Sutherland, who recently passed away.
Regarding the first question, A Quiet Place – Day 1, if taken as a stand-alone film, could work, even if it doesn’t always manage to move as much as it should. The film tells the story of Sam, a terminally ill cancer patient, whose dying wish is to eat pizza at Pasty’s, her favorite place. The lack of initial details about her motivations that push her towards that pizzeria, in the middle of the apocalypse, does not allow the spectator to fully experience the drama that is intended to be told. Having said that, it is essential not to consider it part of the franchise A Quiet Placealso starting from the way in which it is sold, i.e. as a prequel/spin-off of the saga.
A Quiet Place – Day 1 it could really be a film that stood out from the other chapters, but it fails to do so. The promotional campaign shouldn’t have promised answers that the film doesn’t give, since it simply shows what is already known. This does not mean that the film should be judged only on its promotion, but it is clear that this represents its main calling card and should not be limited to being just a way to sell tickets, even if this is its main objective.
A Quiet Place – Day 1 awaits you at the cinema from 27 June 2024.
