“A Quiet Place: Day One”: An Unnecessary Addition to the Franchise

Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn star in the new prequel to A Quiet Place.

Summary

Samira, a terminally ill cancer patient, lives with her cat in a hospice. A recreational trip to a theater show with her fellow residents, sets her in New York City, just in time to witness the arrival of extraterrestrial creatures with an acute sense of hearing.

Enjoyable But Redundant

Let’s be clear: It’s not a bad movie. The production’s quality has not descended compared to the original films, the actors do a good job, and the story is not boring. The thing is, it brings nothing new to the table.

Day One works as a prequel to A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place: Part II, both of which follow the journey of a family striving to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. In the franchise’s newest entry, we are introduced to Samira, played by Lupita Nyong’o, and Eric, played by Joseph Quinn, two new characters completely unrelated to what we have previously seen. That in itself would not have been a problem had it been approached in a more productive way.

So Much Potential Wasted

It would have made sense to have a prequel to explain things that had never been explained before: What are those creatures? Why are they on Earth? What is being done by the government to fight back? Has this affected the entire world, or just the U.S.?

The film answers none of that. This is just a story that happens in the same universe but makes no effort whatsoever to expand it. In fact, it’s limited to repeating things that have already been established. If you remember, A Quiet Place: Part 2 opens with a sequence that shows how the main characters lived that first day. It’s not something that has not been done before.

Just Give These People Some Pizza

The fact that the protagonist has a terminal illness and is near death anyway makes it impossible to be really invested in her destiny. She does not seem to care too much herself. If she is dying, at least she is getting some pizza before it’s over. From the very beginning, it’s easy to guess what’s going to happen to her. However, I must admit that the final scene of the film, with Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good”, gave me chills.

The other guy is just there. We know nothing about him. He is alone and shocked, and he has nothing better to do than help Lupita get pizza. I understand the writers wanting to explore human connection in the midst of a tragedy, and if we had had more information about those characters and more development, maybe I would have cared more, because both actors are great.

Frodo: The Real Movie Star

It will sound funny, but the only character I really cared about was the cat. I was more concerned about him than about the humans. 

Fluffy Frodo is the most adorable thing. He has a way of getting into a lot of trouble without realizing it, but he is always there to bring comfort and cuddles to his human and his human’s friend.

I’m of the opinion that the protagonist of a movie having a cat or a dog always elevates the material. If I were to live in another world crisis, I would want a Frodo by my side.

Box Office Numbers

So far, A Quiet Place: Day One has been a huge success in theaters.  With a reported production budget of $67.000.000, the film has grossed over $220.000.000 worldwide in only two weeks. A pretty impressive number in a year when most things are failing.

While Day One has already broken even, I doubt it will beat its predecessors in the box office. Adjusted for inflation, A Quiet Place, from 2018, performed exceedingly well in its time, making almost twenty times its production budget.

However, we must consider that the first film was way cheaper to make. Even if Day One manages to get close to the same numbers, it would not be as financially successful.

As I said, it’s a good movie, but it did not meet my expectations. I’m fond of the first two films, and I would love to learn some more about this universe. I’m especially curious about the origin of the creatures, a topic I hope can be developed in future installments. Hopefully, there will be a sequel next time.