This series doesn't exactly have the most complex "mythology," but if you're looking for this movie to add to it, you're going to be disappointed. Going back to day one of the invasion sounds like a compelling hook for a story, but it turns out that everyone who doesn't quickly get with the "be quiet" program winds up dead in very short order. And that quickly leaves the movie without many new gimmicks to present. It turns out that "being quiet on an abandoned New York street" doesn't ultimately feel much different from "being quiet one year later in a more rural setting." To the extent that a horror sequel thrives on providing new twists on the core premise, A Quiet Place: Day One doesn't really deliver.
On the other hand, this story does focus on new characters, and that does make a difference. Part of the appeal of the original A Quiet Place was that it centered on people that aren't usually the stars of a "post-apocalyptic survival story": a family of four (and, most notably, a non-hearing character). Day One continues that model of centering characters you don't see in horror movies -- and as long as you can keep doing that, one could imagine a fair number of new Quiet Place movies that do feel to some extent different despite the familiar trappings.
Minor spoilers here (all revealed very early on in the movie): the lead character of this prequel is dying of a terminal illness. That's an inspired and novel choice. Audiences are used to a cast of horror movie characters being figuratively the walking dead, each waiting for their turn to be killed by the monster. But it's truly a different thing for a character to know they're fated to die. And this one winds up falling in with another character clearly suffering from some form of anxiety. We have seen versions of that character in horror before, but always as the "first to die" or "comic relief."
A typical horror movie simply asks, "can anyone survive?" If you can set aside that understandable expectation, you'll find that A Quiet Place: Day One is focused instead on "smaller victories." What these two characters quest for is a detail I won't spoil -- partly because it is the true driver of the movie, and partly because it would sound ridiculous out of context. But suffice it to say that the movie opts for low stakes in a way that shouldn't work, but then winds up packing a surprising emotional punch in the final act.
It's not the only chaotically strange choice in the script writing, either. Djimon Hounsou is back to play his character from A Quiet Place Part II again... and while he does get one of the more powerful moments in this prequel, he also gets maybe five minutes of screen time total. Why bring him back? Then there's the most wild choice of all, giving the main character an emotional support cat. "Don't work with animals" is a famous Hollywood cliche. I figure above all, don't work with a cat, who can barely be trained (if at all). But the script writer was also the director here, choosing to inflict this difficulty upon himself -- and indeed insisting on it after star Lupita Nyong'o asked if the cat could be changed to another animal... revealing that she was actually afraid of cats! (She got over it to make this movie.)
Speaking of Lupita Nyong'o, she's absolutely dominated a horror movie before, with Us. It's no surprise (but still welcome) to see that she's good in this movie. More surprising is the strong performance of Stranger Things season four fan sensation Joseph Quinn, and the great rapport the two have together. A "two-hander" movie ultimately lives or dies by the casting of those two, and A Quiet Place: Day One definitely has Nyong'o and Quinn going for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment