Did anybody really want a Quiet Place spin-off? It’s not a pitch that plays to the franchise’s strengths; not when director/star John Krasinski’s first two Quiet Places were monster movies without much emphasis on the monster. Not when the tagline of the original (‘If they hear you, they hunt you’) is more Doctor Who Gimmick Of The Week than Unassailable Franchise Foundation.

Well-drawn characters were always much more Krasinski’s USP. And they’re not back for the spin-off. Other than a brief re-appearance from Djimon Hounsou’s Henri, the only crossover characters in Day One are the series’ wittering ghouls themselves (man-eating aliens who crawl about like that gnome bloke on Instagram). And besides – Part II’s cold open already showed us how the monsters first arrived on Planet Earth. On paper then, all that Day One really offers is the not-so-thrilling prospect of Seeing How It All Began… again… except in the Big City this time. It’s the same wrongheaded rationale that spawned Fear The Walking Dead (2015-2023).

But luckily, Day One is more than just A Quiet Place Takes Manhattan. And luckily, our new characters turn out to be more compelling than their predecessors. Where Part I (2018) chronicled Emily Blunt and Krasinski’s Abbot family and where Part II (2020) passed the Blunt to Cillian Murphy’s Emmett, A Quiet Place: Day One stars Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o as new protagonist Sam: a caustic cancer patient leaving her rural hospice for a New York City day trip… the same day aliens crash-land. These aliens, of course, hunt humans by echolocation and New York, as opening titles inform us, happens to emit the same number of decibels as ‘a constant scream’. To quote another recent horror film, ‘I call that epic bad luck.’

It’s Nyong’o’s character who elevates the film, however. A terminally ill woman dogged by chronic pain, Sam’s goals are a lot less big-picture than most horror protagonists’. While desperate crowds try to escape the city, Sam is equally desperate for a replacement fentanyl patch. Where other survivors – Joseph Quinn’s likeable Eric included – must adjust to life post-apocalypse, Sam can only cling to her life before. And why shouldn’t she? What does Day One of the apocalypse even mean to someone whose days were numbered regardless?

Where writer/director Michael Sarnoski builds from here is surprisingly tender. Yes, the usual formula is present (Empire magazine wryly describes it as ‘quiet-quiet-NOISE-run!’), but the smaller, gentler scenes are where Day One gets to properly shine. A portentous puppet show. An emotional poetry reading. A close-up magic display from Eric. These are the incidents you’ll remember after the credits roll. Everything else, a perfunctory third-act chase especially, just ends up feeling like fluff.

The film could really be about anything. Replace the aliens with an earthquake, a contagion, a zombie horde, any number of would-be world-enders – and the emotional core of the film holds firm. Day One is a movie that stands on its own; is almost bogged down whenever it returns to formula. It’s one Sean Parker away from dropping the ‘A Quiet Place’ entirely. Just ‘Day One’. It’s simpler. Sarnoski’s film is what franchise filmmaking ought to be: a good filmmaker handed a non-ludicrous budget, left to their own devices and allowed to make a good, solid, successful movie. Maybe this Quiet Place spin-off wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Verdict

When delivering silent setpieces, Day One feels like reheated leftovers. When dealing with its even quieter character moments, the film feels fresh. It seems A Quiet Place doesn’t need any bells and whistles. Who would have guessed?

Rating: 6/10

A Quiet Place: Day One is in cinemas now