No assembly RequireD

It is nearly impossible to find silence in the streets of New York City. A city known for its liveliness and one that never sleeps New York city for all its heart is also a place not known for its compassion. This is not the kind of place you want to be when aliens attack. I guess that is why it makes the perfect setting for a horror film when staying quiet can be the difference between life and death. New York City has been used before many times in horror and yet this critic would argue that it still is not used enough or fully utilize that is, there was 2023’s “Scream VI” that promised Ghostface terror all across the big apple but besides for a subway scene and a deadly apartment crossing New York barely felt alive let alone alive enough to be killed. A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE accomplishes two surprising things. One it manages to disprove any prequel fears of a franchise that doesn’t seem like it could go far, and two it manages to be a fully realized New York City film that never actually shot any footage (outside of some B roll) in the city itself. There are many elements to the success of DAY ONE but its strongest is the acknowledgement from its filmmaking team that perhaps the monster mania of it all has reached its full world building so instead why not make B monster movie that fully relies on the dynamic of human nature and pain. DAY ONE is at its heart an odyssey of inner and outer pain in a sea of animalistic carnage. It is also just a movie about a woman who needs her slice of New York pizza. A mission that many of us would go on regardless of what was chasing us, a true testament to any New Yorker and above all else just pure human behavior.

The world is falling apart for Sam (Lupita Nyong’o). A young woman battling a life ending cancer, Sam appears as frail as her willpower. A poet, Sam spends her days in hospice treatment center writing poems titled “Shit” where she explains how her entire world and everyone involved is well “shit.” This includes her nurse Reuben (Alex Wolff) who is just trying to be a friend and get her to re-enter the world illness be damned. One of Reuben’s amusing ways is to bring Sam along on the center’s trip to the city to catch a show much to Sam’s dismay. The idea of New York City is only appealing to her for one reason only; pizza. The city means pizza and nothing is going to stop that promise to herself. Anyone familiar with the “Quiet Place” franchise is aware that the first 2018 film introduced us to an apocalyptic world where the humans must survive amongst noise-sensitive monsters that can end your life even after making a pin drop sound. John Krasinski helmed the first two outings to great success but not without normal online hesitation (too many plot holes, a Spielberg ripoff etc etc.). Regardless of the success or trepidation one thing became aware even after two films, this world building franchise has kind of already hit its wall. When studios become aware of this the next best thing is to bring it to the beginning so while a “Quiet Place” sequel came with some groans the film world was pleasantly curious about a film being helmed by indie rising director Michael Sarnoski. Sarnoski’s film “Pig” starring a mourning Nicolas Cage showed his talents of a patient and empathic director. But Sarnoski being hired for a studio film can still bring worries, after all he wouldn’t be the first indie director to be just a name for the studios and producers to take over. But fear not because Sarnoski’s take on world ending monsters is as bleak but somehow compassionate as his first outing. Sam’s world ending is far more dangerous than any sonic hearing monster.

DAY ONE succeeds best less when the monsters come about and more so when Sarnoski’s script allows for us to see both the resilience and genuine fear play out. Since this is day one it is normal to see sheer panic on everyone’s face and in everyone’s voice. You don’t roll your eyes when someone screams and gets eaten alive, but rather understand the whole “well what else would they do” feel of the film. This is New York City after all and everyone is very vocal and believes they need to have their say. Sarnoksi’s film loves seems to love NYC as much as he fears ever having to be trapped in it during such an event. In fact it is hard to watch that first attack and see the ashes fall without fully recognizing the pain this city has gone through before something even Spielberg has done before with his own “War of the Worlds.” When Sam wakes up in a destroyed theater with white ash covering her face it is a horrifying image of terrorist attacks from before. Even the introduction of her co-star a tender Jospeh Quinn is horrifying as he arises from a flooded subway station leaving you with a “how the hell did they film that?” amazement. The film may be short but moves at a gentle pace that there is so much time given to just getting Sam towards a pizza joint she is still hell bent on, that when monster scenes do arrive they genuinely feel like a threat. Nyong’o one of the best actresses working today got her big stardom in a role that while eventually leads to big screams was still performed as a woman whose voice was stolen. As her career blossomed and roles like “Us”, another balance of loud and quiet, came about it almost seemed natural for her to portray a woman who wants to scream her pain away but has to be silent at every turn. Thankfully this silence finds some solace with Quinn’s Eric. A young law school student who has no family in the city and follows Sam like a lost puppy dog. Well more accurately like a lost kitty (the film features an adorable therapy cat that may in fact be the guide on their odyssey). Quinn and Nyong’o create a chemistry that grows naturally as their characters disconnect quickly becomes a shared bond of fear. Quinn who is best known for his outing as punk rocker Eddie Munson in “Stranger Things” gets to show a more subdued energy but one that is full of heart delivering some of the film’s best moments that shock you when you start shedding big tears,

This is a film that knows never to overstay its welcome and thankfully by the time DAY ONE finds its tearjerker of a conclusion it feels like you went through the wringer with everyone else. Sure there are some moments that feel required by the studios (a once again underutilized Djimon Hounsou is just frustrating at this point) by DAY ONE carries such empathy that is rarely seen in blockbuster horror that it truly does feel like a branch off Sarnoski’s “Pig.” This is a film that loves animals, loves people and loves the bond that we can create with complete strangers. It never feels reduced to old tricks and instead feels comfortable in smaller moments that bring great emotions. It is also a film that knows Patsy’s has one of the best New York slices ever (Patsy’s itself is often credited with the original NY style pizza). In doing this it reminds us that the smaller things in life can never be taken away from us, even when destruction is on the horizon. Hell for Sam destruction began long before any noise cancelling monsters arrived. So instead DAY ONE becomes less about silencing the noise and instead learning to embrace what we once loved no matter how loud it becomes, because eventually all of us go silent, but that doesn’t mean we have to start right now.

A-

A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE IS NOW IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE FROM PARAMOUNT