A Quiet Place: Day One – A Shrill Prequel or a Worthy Addition?
Sarnoski’s A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) is a prequel to the highly acclaimed horror film, A Quiet Place. It may not match the level of suspense maintained by its predecessor but it does explore well the first alien invasion and how people tried as much as possible to survive.
A New Perspective
While avoiding repetition of initial parts, this movie mainly dwells on the Abbott family during the first day when sound-sensitive creatures appeared on Earth. This allows audience to see where chaos started from and how humans reacted to this invisible danger.
Emphasis on Familiarity
Lupita Nyong’o and John Krasinski (in a smaller role) reprise their roles as Evelyn and Lee Abbott respectively in Day One; this sequel capitalizes on well-known faces in the cast. This does help create an affinity towards them right from the start. However, there is lesser focus on broader societal collapse resulting from extraterrestrial incursion due to concentration on Abbots.
Tension Building
The strength of sound design is still discernible in this installment proper for continuity purposes. As ever before silence becomes another character itself thereby making audiences very uncomfortable throughout. Sarnoski makes use of sound effects and camerawork as means of creating suspense without jumping scares that are much like in his original works.
Ebbings Pacing
Dread builds up successfully although instances arise where rhythm tends to be inconsistent. There are some scenes which are slow while others seem too fast paced. The emotional beats also land with a mixed impact. Some moments do bring across fear and loss experienced by characters whereas some others feel overdone.
Different Type of Fear
Day One presents an alternative kind of fright unlike initial chapter did. It lays more emphasis on what happened during that time when societies broke down and invaders were desperate for their initial mission accomplished. Even though less haunting, it gives insight into the world before Abbotts had to deal with silence in their lives.
Judgment
Day One is an okay prequel that expands on world-building from its predecessor. Though not as pulse-pounding as the original, top-notch acting and good sound design are reasons enough for a fan of the series to have a go at it.
Suggestion
In case you enjoyed A Quiet Place and want to know how things were before Abbotts started fighting for life then Day One is worth watching. If however, you want horror that never stops giving suspenseful moments; consider going back to the first film.
