A Quiet Place: Day One review β noise-free alien-invasion prequel starts with a bang
The latest in the alien-terror series finds Lupita Nyongβo connecting with stranger Joseph Quinn as the monsters terrorise a city into trembling silence
The hideous novelty is leaking a little from what now has to be called the Quiet Place franchise, about humans of the future forced to live in a permanent state of tremblingly paranoid silence because they are terrorised by alien monsters who canβt see but will pounce at the slightest sound. This prequel, directed by Michael Sarnoski (the creator of Pig, starring Nicolas Cage) shows two strangers finding a connection on the very first day of the aliensβ attack; it is well made and well acted, with a fervent lead performance from Lupita Nyongβo.
Nyongβo plays Sam, a woman with cancer in hospice care, who is spiky and difficult with her nurse Reuben (Alex Wolff). When longsuffering Reuben takes Sam and other patients for a trip into New York for a treat (oddly, a marionette show β but with very few kids in the audience), the creepy, blind creatures attack. They cause apocalyptic chaos, and Sam finds herself randomly befriending a terrified British law student called Eric, played by the estimable Joseph Quinn, who gave such an intense performance in Luna Carmoonβs psychodrama Hoard.
Continue reading...Β© Photograph: Gareth Gatrell/AP
Β© Photograph: Gareth Gatrell/AP