What’s It About
A woman named Sam must survive an invasion in New York City by bloodthirsty alien creatures with ultrasonic sound hearing.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
I’m uncertain about my feelings regarding this A Quiet Place saga entry. While it’s a solid movie, it had the potential to be even greater. The main issues lie in the two distinctly separate stories being told simultaneously. The primary plot revolves around sound-sensitive creatures. Still, there’s also a subplot about Samira (Lupita Nyong’o), a poet with advanced cancer living in hospice. On the day the aliens attack, she’s on a trip to Manhattan with her group. A Quiet Place: Day One fails to provide Samira with the opportunity to complete a proper arc, and Joseph Quinn’s character, Eric, adds surprisingly little to the narrative. Eric is a stranger Samira meets during her journey uptown. While we get to know Samira because she’s introduced when characters can still talk and provide significant exposition, Eric remains mostly an empty vessel after his second-act introduction. We learn almost nothing about him other than that he’s a law student and his family lives in Kent, England. Quinn’s emotional performance does allow the audience to empathize with him during his most terrifying moments, especially as someone prone to panic attacks. Still, we never connect with him on a deeper level. The film doesn’t deviate too far from the formula that made the first movie a hit. The opening attack is as disorienting for the audience as for Samira, who stumbles through a heavy plume of dust and smoke. At the same time, those around her are violently killed. We get a steady succession of intense alien attacks on a larger scale, with excellent sound design making even the slightest fabric rip sound like a jet engine. One memorable scene has Samira trying to silently open a can of pet food for her cat, Frodo, creating a funny yet stressful moment, knowing the slightest sound could mean instant death. As the film progresses, deciding whether to be scared for our three survivors or even care about their mortal fates is challenging. Samira is a dying cancer patient, Frodo is an oblivious cat, and we’re not invested enough in Eric to genuinely care about him. The previous movies had us holding our breath, trying not to make a sound. This installment achieves that, too, but this time, it’s from the perspective of a trio with seemingly nothing to gain by surviving. This morbid outlook offers a new perspective on how much we’re willing to fight for life. By the end, you can’t help but empathize with Samira, Eric, and even Frodo (especially if you’re a cat person) as they risk their lives to get from point A to point B alive.
OUR RATING – A VERY QUIET 7
MEDIA
- Genre – Thriller
- Street date
- Digital – August 27, 2024
- Blu-Ray/DVD – October 8, 2024
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English: Dolby Atmos
- Subtitles – English, English SDH, Spanish, French
Extras
- Day Zero: Beginnings and Endings—Hear from John Krasinski, cast, and crew as director Michael Sarnoski takes the reins for this character-driven prequel.
- In the City: Chaos in Chinatown—See how the production crew recreated Manhattan from scratch in order to destroy it. Plus, hear from some new and familiar faces from the franchise.
- The Exodus: Against the Tide—Go behind-the-scenes of the exodus sequence that employed over a hundred extras and a clever mix of practical and visual effects.
- The Long Walk: Monsters in Midtown—Meet Frodo the cat and the animal trainers behind the fantastic feline performance. Plus, filmmakers detail Sam, Eric, and Frodo’s long walk through the city.
- Pizza at the End of the World—Hear from cast and crew about why a quest for pizza when the world is under attack poignantly speaks to our humanity.
- Deleted and Extended Scenes