One of the beautiful things to come out of the devastation brought about in our community, and many others, during the Auckland City floods of January 2023, was the kindness of strangers. While the tight bond of family was the beating heart of the previous two installment of the Quiet Place franchise, loving your neighbor, even in the most horrendous of circumstances, lies at the very centre of A Quiet Place: Day One. A character driven drama set against the backdrop of blood thirsty, invading aliens, A Quiet Place: Day One not only continues the tremendous legacy of the previous films, but perfectly crafts its only unique place in it.  

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Set against the backdrop of a besieged New York City, A Quiet Place: Day One follows Sam, a terminally ill cancer patient, and Eric, a law student, survivors navigating the onset of an alien incursion. Sam and Eric quickly learn that survival hinges on maintaining absolute silence, as any noise draws lethal attention from extraterrestrial predators.

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For those who’ve delved into the world of A Quiet Place in the previous films, the way in which the aliens hunt, using only sound, has lost a little bit of its surprise and novelty. We know what’s coming if anyone drops a bottle, snags their clothes and they rip, or if a character was to scream when they stood on an exposed nail. 

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And director Michael Sarnoski (director of Pig - one of my favorite films of 2021) seems to know this too. And while the jump scares and well crafted, heart in your mouth action remains, Sarnoski hangs everything on character development. 

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Developing characters with barely any dialogue is a tough gig, but Sarnoski perfects the characters here. Wonderfully helped by Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn, they absolutely and completely inhabit their roles. 

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And instead of the family drama being the emotional core of the film, it’s the kindness of strangers, the tale of hope and opportunity lost, but the triumph and defiance of the human spirit despite it. 

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A character driven drama set against the backdrop of blood thirsty, invading aliens, A Quiet Place: Day One not only continues the tremendous legacy of the previous films, but perfectly crafts its only unique place in it.