John Krasinski’s sci-fi horror A Quiet Place is possibly one of the best films of the 21st Century. A gripping, relentlessly tense terror that left audiences leaving the cinema with full pots of popcorn for fear of making a noise. He then gave us the decent sequel, A Quiet Place Part II. Now, with Kransinski focusing on imaginary friends with IF, we get the prequel, A Quiet Place: Day One, when we see the arrival of the big-eared aliens who are attracted to sound. This time, Michael Sarnoski, the director of the Nicolas Cage drama Pig, takes the helm, and we have a film that, while never reaching the heights of the first film, isn’t bad either.

Cancer-sufferer Sam is taken on a trip to New York, where she only dreams of having pizza in Brooklyn. Along with her carer cat, Frodo, she finds herself trapped in the city after an alien attack has left the place in ruins, making her unable to make a noise. She meets Eric, an Englishman who is also trapped, and the pair form an unlikely friendship where survival is the name of the game.

Moving the action away from small-town America to the big city, Sarnoski allows plenty of scope for the main characters to hide and uses the various buildings plenty of times to make the audience jump as aliens appear from nowhere. Unlike Cloverfield, which this film reminds me of, he doesn’t use landmarks but the streets, subways, and alleyways to take his leads on the journey, looking for a way to escape.

Like the previous films, the lack of sound helps build the tension, although the soundscape of the aliens and the tiniest crack of the foot under broken glass is amplified to the extreme, so when we get loud noises, they explode in the ears. He also allows us to watch the relationship of two people from different sides of the track blossom as they rely on each other to try and avoid being taken by the creatures. To add to the tension is a cat who performs tremendously. Anytime an animal or a child is involved, you root for the characters even more. However, with these films, as Kransinski proved in the first film, children are easy pickings and adults.

Even though this is the third film in the franchise, it avoids the pitfuls of familiarity by using location, character, and the panic that thousands of people bring. There are some scenes of pure terror as we see the creatures climbing over the buildings looking for prey. It adds a neat twist to the previous stories, where characters were limited.

Lupita Nyong’o has possibly the most expressive eyes in the business, and this helps to elevate the experience of Sam to another level. She was magnificent in Us and 12 Years A Slave, and here, we get more than just another victim. You care for this person who has to cope with her ill health and the situation she finds herself in, and you long for her to get that pizza. Joseph Quinn is perfect as the terrified Brit, not only a stranger in a strange land but now having to cope with the invasion. He plays off Nyong’o brilliantly, and the pair have great chemistry.

A Quiet Place: Day One will never hit the high points of the first film, and it never needs to try. It is a compelling prequel that does an excellent job of trying to respect the original, and fans will not be disappointed. Try to see it in the cinema to get the full effect of a tense horror.

4 out of 5

Director: Michael Sarnoski

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Alfie Todd, Eliane Umuhire, Alexander John, Zay Domo Artist

Written by: (also story) Michael Sarnoski, (story) John Krasinski, (characters created) Bryan Wood and Scott Beck

Running Time: 100 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 27th June 2024