A Quiet Place was a movie that blew my mind when I first saw it because of the intensity that remaining quiet can bring. Krasinski’s writing and direction found all the right avenues to drive me into suspense and terror, playing games with my mind to toy with my emotions and make me tense in my seat. Character development with truly horrifying monsters in a normal setting was fantastic and the sequel did well to expand the story and add a little more to the terror of the world’s end times. And now we have a prequel that is doing its best to keep the magic going and perhaps shed some light on the mystery of these beasts’ emersion into the world. Perhaps get some meat to what brought them here and why they do what they do? Robbie K writing another review to guide your movie choices as he reviews:
Movie: A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
- Director
LIKES:
Great cinematography
Love More Of the Beasts Movements
Fantastic use of New York Jungle
Character Details And New Side Of Post-Incident Living
The Cat
Acting
The Sound Editing
The Pacing
SUMMARY:
The movie still holds that atmospheric storytelling with the camera and sound that establishes the mood and horror. Day One does the deed well with the new terrain, New York’s colossal skyscrapers are jungle gyms for these creatures, death traps that once were safe, now turned to obstacle courses. Nightmare-generating tunnels and isolated open streets further add to the mix and provide ample ways to help rip the familiarity of the city away in one gigantic sweep. Sarnoski’s direction gives us more to the monster’s abilities in movements, a sort of nature documentary that helps add to their cleverness and insight into what these things do when they aren’t clicking and stalking their prey. While also giving us new hunting habits that the other movies didn’t quite focus on in their storytelling, all built around the megapolis. And yet, despite the hopeless feel, this prequel still finds that light, just in a new way that worked for me on levels. Day One’s tale has these moments that help bring the spirituality to heart and develop the characters past some other story elements. And the pacing maintains itself enough to stay engaging despite a story that heads the opposite way and can be a tad moody.
Finally, acting may be limited to two humans and a cat, but you are handed a fantastic group that brings a lot to a movie with limited dialog. Wolff is his usual self, and by this point, you either love or dislike his character direction in a horror movie. Quinn does the job well and at times was my favorite character despite being a tad overdone/exaggerated with his delivery. Yet he’s a solid wall to bounce off of and he succeeds in balancing out the tone of the movie. Nyong’o though was stunning as ever, doing so much with her movement and body than words, truly using those limited moments of speaking to really enjoy the freedom of speaking that we take for granted. Yet, my favorite “actor’ is the cat, who brings so much to the movie in terms of suspense, humor, and sentimentality that thrills an animal lover like me. Fantastic work with the way they used “Frodo”, the cat’s attitude is the freshness to the movie that many should enjoy.
DISLIKES:
At Times Boring
Predictable Ending
More Answers Needed For Me
Some Unique Elements Missing
More Characters To Up The Suspense
The Character Arc May Be Limiting
SUMMARY:
Day One is good on many levels, but the movie is starting to feel a tad old hat and requires help to continue pushing this film further and further to quality. So, what limitations did this movie have for me? For one thing, the movie is a bit boring, the stop-and-go moments are there to calm things down, but the direction feels a bit too back and forth it slows things down a tad too much. Second, the movie drops something very early that gives you fairly good odds to predict what will happen at the end, and that further adds to the boredom (to a degree) that may be disappointing to some members. In addition, something is missing for me, some wow factor or some new pieces of information that could expand the tale and give me more about how and why these beings invaded. Though we get some new moves and skills, we are no closer to figuring out the why or reasoning. Some new things I think I understand, but are vague enough to wonder what I’m seeing and the inclusion of these new “qualities”. In addition, the mission is going to be a mixed bag for fans depending on how artistic/self-reflecting you are vs. wanting a logical plot that feels similar to the other two movies. This quest is humorous and understandable, but in doing so becomes this odd La-La land feeling movement that is beautiful, but at the same time feels counterproductive and limiting to what could have been. Plus, a few more human actors could have fit well in this movie, giving us that survival aspect I go for in this movie, and adding some more intensity that A Quite Place 1 did so well. Thus, the movie’s unique factor and character may also be the limiting factor depending on the type of fan you are.
The VERDICT:
A Quiet Place’s prologue feels familiar in much of the presentation and in ways have expanded the world to give us more stories from this world’s collection. I loved the cinematic and sound quality to bring the new playground to life and how they used a lot of aspects to have our characters stand a chance in their eluding of the blind beasts. It’s got some great character development moments and a poetic side to help offset the usual tones of the movie, and that gamble pays off at times for a viewer like me. Plus, a cat named after a hobbit is tough to not like for a nerd like me too. Yet, the movie’s very spark of uniqueness is also potentially its biggest limiting factor as well. The story is semi-predictable, and this quest seems rather pointless and kind of counterproductive despite the deeper meanings behind it. A few more human characters or some better backup information could have gone further to expand on the lore and make this prequel far more necessary than just another look during the Day One memories from Part 2. Is this a movie theater trip? I think so for many of the likes and the experience of being in the theaters. My scores are:
Drama/Horror/Sci-Fi: 8.0
Movie Overall: 7.0-7.5
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