A Quiet Place: Day One was a Heartfelt Horror Story about Friendship Among Strangers

I am genuinely surprised that the next installment in the A Quiet Place franchise was actually good! Normally, prequel horror films tend to do pretty bad, due to poor storytelling, or explaining the origin of where the evil came from.

Fortunately, this movie did the complete opposite!

We never get a backstory to the aliens (yay) and the story that we follow is between two strangers that find each other during the end of the world.

The story follows a woman named Sam, who is sick and dying. She doesn’t allow anyone to get to close, (except for her adorable kitty cat) due to her condition.

Sam is convinced by her nurse and only friend, to leave the hospice and spend time outside to enjoy a slice of pizza in the city. Sam agrees, she finds herself enjoying an interesting theater show. Then she is heartbroken when she realizes that they can't get pizza after all, when something strange is going on in the city. Sam gets upset, and when she gets on the bus, she realizes that something is not right with the city.

She witnessed the beginning of the alien invasion.

Sam barely survives, and takes refuge along with other survivors inside of the theater. She decides to begin her own journey of searching for that slice of pizza before she dies from her sickness. Her only friend from the hospice agrees to go with her, but then they are interrupted when they hear the generator turn on outside. They quickly attempt to turn off the machine, in fear that the monsters would come for them and the people inside.

The nurse is able to shut off the machine, and just when you think that the day is saved for the heroes, the nurse is killed right in front of Sam.

This death was so unexpected, but the franchise has always been known for that!

Sam starts her journey of finding pizza alone, but she meets an unlikely companion who aids her on her quest.

Sam meets a stranger named Eric and they stay together to survive. The chemistry between both actors is adorable, they bond over their situation and form a powerful friendship.

Eric was such a sweetheart in the film. Even though he was terrified of possibly getting killed by an alien with one swipe, he wanted to do whatever it took to make Sam happy.

Sam also did whatever it took to keep Eric alive, calming him down whenever he got too scared. Even her own kitty cat provided Eric with comfort!

They eventually reach that pizza place they had been searching so hard for, and even though Sam thinks all hope is lost when her favorite pizza restaurant was destroyed, but Eric surprises her with a different pizza from a store.

Yes, this is actually the plot of the film, but trust me, it's executed so well!

Watching their last main interaction during an awesome scene when Eric is pretending to introduce Sam to an imaginary audience as they share a slice of pizza together was the best scene in the entire film!

Eric and Sam then make their goodbyes, and the run to the docks so that Eric and Sam's cat will having a fighting chance.

Eric is able to make it to the boat with Sam's cat, and she watches happily as her loved ones swim to safety. While Eric is holding onto Sam's cat on the boat, he finds a note she had slipped into the coat she had given him. He smiles as he reads her final goodbye to him, and the film ends with Sam deciding to end her life on her own terms, allowing one of the monsters to finish her off.

A Quiet Place: Day One is probably my favorite film in the franchise! It was unexpected in the best way possible, and it was genius of the filmmakers to only focus on two people throughout the film.

Watching the chaos enfold through the lens of two different characters really brought an original take to the franchise!

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn