Thursday 11 July 2024

FILM: A Quiet Place Day One (dir: Michael Sarnoski, 2024)

REVIEW No. 1,650!

"I'm gonna clap for that."

Any concerns that this high-quality franchise could maintain and survive without Krasinski and Blunt on screen are dispelled quickly by Lupita Nyong'o playing new central character Samira, a terminal cancer patient whose hospice chooses an unfortunate day to undertake a trip to New York City, just when the aliens from the first two films mount their invasion.  All the attributes of the previous films are delivered but in the context of a significantly bigger scale (that is well-realised for its budget), yet maintaining the focus on an actress of the extraordinary calibre of Nyong'o means that it can continue the intimate experience of the previous films, as she convinces the viewer of every moment she goes through.  Dangerous noises, from a ring pull to an emergency generator kicking in, make the viewer flinch every time as the tense use of silence works so well once again.  There are some creative shots and scenarios drawn from the basic premise - even a couple of moments of Idiot Plot are excusable by their execution - and the devastated city backgrounds and the creature effects are very well presented.  Overall, the shift to the big city works well, making this prequel compelling and well-executed as part of the series and in its own right. 


 

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