Review: A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE

Samira, an end of life patient in hospice, is learning to cope with her lot. One day at an outing to nearby Manhattan, the aliens invade and begin going through all those tasty humans. She variously meets people and witnesses the deaths of many as the audio sensitive bug monsters swarm. This existential whammy gives her pause for thought and she assigns herself a mission of nostalgia, helping and helped by a young man and her own service animal Frodo the cat. That last detail might make you wince (oh, a cute animal) but you won't be if you see the film; this one delivers some stunning suspense and a slow burning sense of death's inevitability.

So, without spoilers, this film's plot has to remain sealed there. What I can say is that the balance between the constant threat of instant death and the quest to experience the best of life is generally enough to divert attention away from the immediate quest's utter stupidity. Then again, when we do recall that we remind ourselves of Sam's failing grasp of life from the get go. At its best the action is white knuckle with the added zest endemic to this franchise of having to be silent through pain and shock which are dealt out in constant flow. At its worst, it can feel a little too much like a game adaptation, with characters virtually winning tokens from dealing with the aliens, and some of the magic-is-where-you-find-it moments felt a little worn.

What saves this from just being another franchise sci-horror is not just a deft hand at action sequences and some fine audio editing, but a pair of fine performances. Joseph Quinn as Eric the law student does a lot of learning along the way and the path is frequently bumpy. It is Lupita Nyong'o's film, however, and her journey through the seven stages of self-grief is constantly compelling. She keeps us aware of why her odd little mission has to do with her entire life's course. We assume that people in hospices have made peace with their fate but that is always a mistake. It's not too much of a stretch to suggest that this whole story serves as a kind of high tension enactment of that process. At only one hundred minutes of screen time, it's not a big ask to sit with her as he rages against the dying of the light.