A Quiet Place: Day One

Last night my sister and I went to see A Quiet Place: Day One (checking another movie off her summer list).  As a huge fan of the franchise, I was really looking forward to this prequel and, even though it has a very different vibe than the other movies, I really liked it.  Samira (Lupita Nyong'o) is a bitter terminally ill woman living at a hospice facility in New York with her service cat Frodo.  One of her caregivers (Alex Wolff) convinces her to join an outing to Manhattan for a performance but it is interrupted by what turns out to be an alien invasion and she is knocked unconscious.  She awakens inside the theater with death and destruction all around her.  Other survivors, including Henri (Djimon Hounsou), warn her to be quiet and to head to an evacuation point to get off the island by boat.  The noise from the large crowds moving to the evacuation point attract the aliens so she heads the opposite direction with Frodo.  She eventually ends up at her old apartment but is dismayed to discover that she has been followed by a shell-shocked English law student named Eric (Joseph Quinn).  However, the two of them form a bond as they inspire each other to live in the midst of chaos.  This might not be what people are expecting from a prequel because it doesn't provide many new details about the invasion or the aliens but it is a very moving portrayal about finding the best of humanity in the worst of circumstances and it features incredibly poignant performances from both Nyong'o and Quinn.  It also features some incredibly scary action sequences that had me and my sister holding our breaths (much of my anxiety involved the status of the cat).  The visuals showing a post-apocalyptic New York City convey a real feeling of devastation and the unnerving sound design is very effective at creating tension but it is the intimate and emotional story that kept me riveted.  I really appreciate the fact that writer/director Michael Sarnoski took this in a very different direction and, even though some might be disappointed by that, I highly recommend it.