A Quiet Place: Day One – the 'pleasant surprise of the summer'
Silence is golden in this prequel to the popular 2018 apocalyptic thriller

An apocalyptic thriller about deadly alien invaders who are blind but have ultra-sonic hearing, "A Quiet Place" (2018) "tapped into that collective childhood memory of stern teachers or parents warning us not to make a peep", said Brian Viner in the Daily Mail. Now, following 2020's "excellent" "A Quiet Place: Part II", we have a prequel, showing how the horror began – and it's magnificent.
Directed this time by Michael Sarnoski, it stars a superb Lupita Nyong'o as Sam, a poet with terminal cancer who is visiting New York with her pet cat Frodo when the aliens attack, and who is soon warned to "Shhh!" – because it has become clear that to have any hope of surviving, you must not make a sound.
Sam, however, is dying anyway, and is determined to have one last slice of pizza, so she sets off through the sci-fi hellscape to reach a restaurant in Harlem, with a needy English law student (Joseph Quinn) she has picked up along the way. The result is one of the finest films of the year – gripping, immaculately paced, and surprisingly touching.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Day One" is "well made and well acted", said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. But "the hideous novelty" of the set-up "is leaking a little from" what we must now call the "A Quiet Place franchise".
The film is perhaps not "desperately" bold or innovative, said Robbie Collin in The Telegraph. As the third part, it was never likely to be. But, as our two protagonists pick their way through "the wreckage of Manhattan", it does enough "to keep viewers' hearts at constant throat altitude".
This film is the "pleasant surprise of the summer so far". See it in a cinema, because part of the fun is being in an audience trying to maintain "the collective hush". And don't bring crisps.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
America's academic brain drain has begun
IN THE SPOTLIGHT As the Trump administration targets universities and teachers, educators are eying greener academic pastures elsewhere — and other nations are starting to take notice
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Why is Musk targeting a Wisconsin Supreme Court race?
Today's Big Question His money could help conservatives, but it could also produce a Democratic backlash
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
How to pay off student loans
The explainer Don't just settle for the default repayment plan
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
6 welcoming recipes for cooking and baking during your spring days
The Week Recommends You want it flavorful, and you want it exciting
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Snow White: Disney's 'earnest effort to meet an impossible brief'
Talking Point Live-action remake of Disney classic is not the disaster it could have been – but where's the personality?
By The Week UK Published
-
Don McCullin picks his favourite books
The Week Recommends The photojournalist shares works by Daniel Defoe, Lesley Blanch and Roland Philipps
By The Week UK Published
-
6 breathtaking homes in capital cities
Feature Featuring a glass conservatory in Atlanta and a loft library in Boston
By The Week US Published
-
Spring's best new cookbooks, from pizza to pastries
The Week Recommends Pizza, an array of brownies and Cantonese-American mash-ups are on the menu
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Playhouse Creatures: 'dream-like' play is 'lively, funny and sharp-witted'
Anna Chancellor offers a 'glinting performance' alongside a 'strong' supporting cast
By The Week UK Published
-
The CIA Book Club: 'entertaining and vivid' book explores a huge Cold War secret
The Week Recommends 'Gripping' narrative explores a covert smuggling operation across the Iron Curtain
By The Week UK Published
-
Cherry blossom season: Washington diners’ happy time
feature The five best spots to enjoy the festivities
By The Week US Published