MANILA, PHILIPPINES — “What would you do if the world was ending?” It’s a hypothetical question we often hear, prompting answers that are either larger-than-life, sentimental or even quite simple. The third film from the A Quiet Place franchise – A Quiet Place: Day One – explores this idea through an apocalyptic lens and takes us back to the noise before the world was forcibly silenced.
Set in New York, Lupita Nyong’o’s character, Sam, a poet in hospice care, finds herself along with her cat, Frodo, one of the many witnesses of “death angels” falling from the sky and taking over the city. Amidst the chaos and newfound threat, Sam has one particular goal in mind and does everything in her power — despite her sickness — to make it a reality. She meets a terrified British law student along the way, Eric (Joseph Quinn), and the three of them (yes, including Frodo) team up to survive.
When you’re stuck in a universe where uttering any sound gets you killed, your face has to do all the talking, and Lupita reminds us why she’s an Oscar-award-winning actress. The emotions she elicits without saying a word captivates you as a viewer and embodying someone terminally ill on top of that tall order speaks to the je ne sais quoi that has made her a household name.
Joseph, although relatively new to Hollywood, keeps up with Lupita’s acting chops, balancing out Sam’s nihilistic, pessimistic tendencies with his timid yet warm nature. Eric’s selflessness brings out the best in Sam, and the camaraderie Lupita and Joseph seemed to develop off-camera translates well onto the big screen.
Although the two stars did a spectacular job, it was little ole’ Frodo who stole the show. John Krasinski, Director and lead star of the first A Quiet Place, recruited acclaimed indie filmmaker Michael Sarnoski in hopes of adding his flair to the horror series, and he delivered. From Nicholas Cage and the infamous pig in Michael’s directorial debut to now Lupita with Frodo, Michael continues to integrate wholesome bonds into movies filled with suspense and in this case, jumpscares, successfully.
While the previous A Quiet Place films established what the monstrous “death angels” are and how unforgiving they can be as predators, this prequel simply reiterates that same rhetoric. It doesn’t necessarily enhance the existing lore or bring anything new to the genre per se, but it’s the acting, the characters’ relationships, and the spine-chilling sound design that round out the story.
So, to bring it back to where this article began — A Quiet Place: Day One shows us one way people choose to live as the world caves in on them. Time doesn’t stop for anyone, and in the midst of despair, hope is what sustains us to keep going. We may not live in an apocalypse like Sam, Frodo, and Eric, but it’s up to us to find that glimmer of hope in a world that can often feel bleak.
A Quiet Place: Day One is now showing in Philippine cinemas nationwide.
