#48: QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE

STARRING: Lupita Nuyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff and Djimon Hounsou. Written and directed by Michael Sarnoski. Budget $67 million. Running time 99 minutes.

Arriving 'hot' on the heels of 'A Quiet Place II', well four years anyway, this is the third in the film series known as A Quiet Place and it's a prequel detailing the arrival of the blind, vicious, psychopathic alien monsters from outer-space who hunt by sound. Explaining nothing and offering no origin story, this film instead focuses on two survivors and one cat and their desperate fight for survival as they try to escape the island of Manhattan on the last boat out of Dodge.

The film follows Lupita Nuyong'o as Sam, a terminally ill cancer patient and her support cat, Frodo, on a day trip to New York City to see a puppet show with a bus load of other hospice patients when the aliens attack. From then on, it's a fight for survival as Sam teams up with an English law student called Eric, Joseph Quinn and they concoct a plan to escape. Sam wants to return to Harlem for one last slice of pizza and Eric just wants someone to help him survive. When the authorities blow up all the bridges in New York and then tell any survivors to make their way to the river front where boats will rescue them (it turns out these aliens can't swim), the race is on! But first there's a side mission involving a perilous nighttime trip through the shattered streets of New York in search of pain relief medicine through an alien nest, lit by bonfires. 

And that's the plot! What follows is a gripping, tense, deeply moving and satisfying movie that had me on the edge of my seat for all of its blissfully crisp running time of 99 minutes (aaaah, the good old days). But don't worry, this isn't a wham-bam! relentless action romp, due to the alien's hunting by sound, this film for the most part is silent, save for the odd whisper, but there is also a wonderful scene in a deserted jazz club where our two heroes get to communicate and connect that is both deeply affecting and moving. 

It's not perfect, there's some continuity issues with having a cat as one of your three main leads and it tends to disappear at times in the plot, and there's a side plot involving medicine that just there to ratchet up the tension but these are very minor quibbles and don't ruin the film. The design and look of the film is also impressive borrowing from War of the Worlds and every disaster movie since 2001. 

Lupita Nyong'o is outstanding as Sam bringing a reality and vulnerability to the role and at no time does the film forget her physical frailty for the sake of the plot. 

I avoided the sequel to the 2018 original, which I enjoyed but had continuity issues with, but this was a totally different kettle of fish. It's a deeply satisfying, tense and emotional ride that will keep you gripped and tense throughout.

8/10