A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

Don’t come to A Quiet Place: Day One for the invasion. It mostly happens around the corner, and the scares feel familiar if you’ve seen the first two. What you get instead is a slow, sad, beautiful walk. Lupita Nyong’o plays Sam, a former poet in hospice care outside the city, who only agrees to a group trip to a Manhattan marionette show because pizza is promised afterward. Then the sky starts falling, the creatures that hunt by sound arrive, and New York, of all places, has to learn to be silent. Sam doesn’t head for the evacuation boats. She heads uptown to Harlem, and the reason why is the soul of the film. Joseph Quinn’s Eric, a rattled English law student, tags along, and Frodo the cat is the best scene partner anyone could ask for. Nyong’o is extraordinary. It made $262 million worldwide on a reported $67M. A 7.4 because it trades jump scares for something deeper. $44.24 says you carry your cat around the house tonight like Frodo, and your cat is not impressed.

What works: Nyong’o gives a fierce, moving performance, Joseph Quinn is a gentle match, and the quiet moments land harder than the scares.

What doesn’t: The invasion stays mostly off screen, so the scares feel familiar and the story can seem like a sketch of a bigger film.

Who it’s for: Viewers who care more about characters than creature features, and anyone whose cat is basically family.