Film - Quiet Place : Day One - it's Edge-of-the-seat stuff

THE clock rewinds for the third instalment of John Krasinski’s Quiet Place franchise. We’ve seen the horrors of days 89 and 472, the dual settings of the post-apocalyptic original. Film two took us further still into the dystopia of a post-invasion Earth. Film three, by contrast, takes us right back to the start.

A Quiet Place: Day One delivers exactly as promised. Set exactly 89 days before the devastating opening of A Quiet Place, Day One tells the tale of how extra-terrestrial behemoths turned the world mute for survival.

Krasinski retains a production credit here - being, in part, responsible for the film’s story - but has handed directorial duties to Michael Sarnoski, best known for his work with Nicholas Cage on the 2021 film Pig. Jeff Nichols, of Midnight Special renown, had initially been attached to the project but left citing ‘creative differences’. Constrained by a pre established vision, Nichols could never have made a film that was truly his.

Day One is, by default of narrative, a louder and more action packed entry than its predecessors. And yet, it still feels a very particularly Quiet Place film. Krasinski has worked hard to create a very distinct universe, one with impressive cinematic mileage and a unique visual style.

In the stead of Emily Blunt, and Krasinski himself, the tremendous Lupita Nyong'o leads the film. The Oscar winner and Star Wars icon will break hearts as Sam, an ordinary woman caught up in the extraordinary when aliens land in New York City.

Alongside Nyong’o, Stranger Things breakout Joseph Quinn plays Eric and horror stalwart Alex Wolff is Reuben. Reprising the role he first played in A Quiet Place Part II, Djimon Hounsou features too as the gentle, kind-hearted Henri. He, at least, we know will survive.

As for the rest, it’s the not knowing that will keep you on the edge of your seat. That and all that we know that the film’s characters do not. We are all too aware that survival here depends on total silence - the invaders boast impeccable hearing but are blind - but for Sam, Eric and co., this will prove a steep learning curve. Steep and potentially fatal.

Krasinski has promised one further sequel. On the basis of Day One, however, expect spin-offs abound. There’s a whole world of silence out there yet to be explored.