By Jamil Weeks

John Krazinski’s A Quiet Place series offered a refreshing take on alien invasion movies. These movies upped the ante of suspense with the terrifying premise that any sound you make at any given time could cost the lives of you and everyone around you in a gruesome manner. The alien creatures in the films make the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise look like cute puppies, piling onto the fear factor of the last thing you witness in life being a face-to-face encounter with one of these ferocious beasts. The first two films in the series depicted human survival in the aftermath of the alien infestation on Earth through a family. If you ever wondered how the creatures came to Earth and took over the planet, A Quiet Place: Day One shows how it happened. Set in New York City, the prequel shows how normal life was disrupted by these alien brutes. Instead of witnessing the aliens preying upon humans through The Abbot family from the previous two films, here you witness the chaos through the lens of the lead character, Sam, played by Lupita Nyong’O. Sam is a hospice patient who has a bitter irritability about her character when you meet her. When Sam and other patients are offered a trip into the city, they have no idea of the ensuing danger that lies ahead.

Outside of the change in location and characters, Day One does not offer anything radically different from the previous two films. Once the creatures land on Earth, the events unfold much like you have seen before where the alien predators use sound to seek out humans to slaughter. Taking over directorial efforts this time is Pig director, Michael Sarnoski. Sarnoski does a great job at making this prequel as terrifying as the original films. You can feel the tension with each movement and any sound made by the characters. Your skin crawls when you hear the insect-like crackling sounds the creatures make when they are nearby. Much like Krasinski, Sarnoski proves to be impressive at building suspense where moviegoers can experience the dread and anxiety the characters find themselves in. In Day One, you never feel the characters are safe, no matter what time of day or location. Whether they are venturing outside in daylight or fortified high up in a building at night, you find yourself clinching the arm rest of your theater seat from the unpredictability of not knowing when the creatures will attack.

The aliens themselves are as menacing as ever. Their power and strength are demonstrated by how quickly they can scale tall buildings. No matter how many times you have seen them, whether in this film or the two previous films, the design of the aliens never ceases to make you cringe, much like the aliens did from other alien movie franchises, like The Predator and Alien movies. There is a spine-tingling scene in Day One that harkens back to the Alien 3 close-up scene of the face-to-face encounter between the Xenomorph and Sigourney Weaver. New York City, a city with millions of people, proves to be fertile killing grounds for these creatures. Thus, you witness more carnage inflicted upon humans in comparison to the series’ predecessors. Even despite the lack of gore with the PG-13 rating, Sarnoski effectively conveys the relentless savagery and murderous voraciousness that these creatures are capable of when they attack. Much like what made the first Alien film so effectively frightening, Sarnoski shows you just enough when the creatures pounce upon their prey. What you do not see causes your mind to stumble down a rabbit hole of diabolical possibilities of how the aliens’ victims are gored to death. If there is one drawback to the film, it is that you do not learn anything more about the creatures. They still remain somewhat of a mystery as you do not discover their planet origins or how they ended up descending upon Earth instead of another planet. Such details would have made this prequel more enriching by delving deeper into the mythology of the aliens.

Sarnoski continues the tradition of the original A Quiet Place films by letting the audience get to know the characters through limited dialogue. As it is revealed that the creatures do not fare well against water, the citizens are ordered to evacuate south towards the seaports to escape the island. Sam makes the inexplicable decision to head north to Harlem. Why to Harlem? *Spoiler Alert* To get pizza. As puzzling as that sounds, you learn later in the film why she makes such a puzzling commitment. Sam’s encounter with a petrified law student, Eric, played by Joseph Quinn, is where we get to learn more about Sam’s life and the reasoning behind her journey to Harlem. Eric interrupts Sam’s solo mission for pizza as she reluctantly allows him to join her. Nyong’O and Quinn successfully sell the connection these two characters forge as their characters bond while on their mission. Sarnoski finds creative ways for the characters to have scenes of dialogue by having natural loud sounds, like rain and thunder, as a means for the characters to be able to talk to each other without the fear of the creatures tracking them through the sound of their voices. As you learn about the characters and their motivations behind their decisions, you grow to care for them just as Sam and Eric grow to care for each other. When the creatures are on the prowl, the apprehension is heightened because you root for their survival more than if they if they had been written as one-dimensional characters. When it is revealed why Sam is so hellbent on going to Harlem to get pizza, Day One becomes more than just a typical horror/sci-fi flick. The human element is what makes this film special through the addition of heartfelt scenes to the story that elicit a tear jerking response.

While Day One may offer you more of the same, at the end of the day this “more of the same” is damned good entertainment. The movie keeps you on the edge of your seat fearing for the fate of the characters, whether you get to know who they are or not. Despite the film not providing details of how the creatures got here, the unanswered questions are not a necessity to enjoying the film. What is great about this film is you can enjoy the movie even if you have never seen the previous two installments. In fact, the only continuity in the film, other than the suspense and the creatures themselves, is a cameo appearance from Djimon Honsou, whose character you learn in this film is named Henri. Day One is definitely a film to check out, not only for the thrills and suspense, but for the touching dramatic moments as well. A story of how strangers can come together and be resilient in the face of the gravest of danger. Sarnoski does a masterful job of giving moviegoers what they love about the original Krasinski films by not straying too far from the winning formula they already established. Thus, the new A Quiet Place film is a must-see for the franchise’s day one fans.