Like the terrifying extraterrestrials with super-hearing that inhabit its universe, A Quiet Place seemingly came out of nowhere when it was released in 2018. The smash-hit stars and was co-written and directed by John Krasinski. Its 2021 sequel, A Quiet Place Part II, was equally well received. And while those films focused on what happened after the invasion, the series’ latest instalment – A Quiet Place: Day One, out on June 27 – shows audiences the day it all started. Here’s why you need to round up a crew and see it in cinemas next month.
It’s by a team of horror pros
A Quiet Place: Day One is made by a seriously talented team on both side of the camera. John Krasinski is producing alongside Brad Fuller, Andrew Form and Michael Bay, who between them have produced horror staples including The Purge and Ouija, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street remakes. (Bay, of course, knows his way around an action sequence, too.)
Then you’ve got the stars: Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, whose unsettling role in Jordan Peele’s Us is seared into the public imagination. And Joseph Quinn, who you’ll recognise as the metalhead who went toe-to-toe with Vecna in Stranger Things. These people know what they’re doing – let them scare you.
We finally get to see more of Day One
One of the highlights of A Quiet Place: Day One is the extended sequence that shows the day the blind aliens – with hypersensitive hearing – land on earth, seeking to destroy anything and anyone that makes a sound. As great as the first two movies are, it always felt like there was more to explore around the immediate aftermath of the invasion. Luckily, the creators listened, and we’ve got a whole movie dedicated to that day – before anyone knew about the creatures, or the rules for avoiding them.
The urban setting is a new direction for the series
The first two A Quiet Place movies are set in the countryside, filled with creaking warehouses, rustling grass and rusty tools. It was its own terrifying obstacle course of noise and suspense. A Quiet Place: Day One takes things in a completely new direction: it’s set in the heart of New York City, and its claustrophobic new urban setting brings a new set of challenges: people, dead-ends, noise everywhere.
This is why we watch movies on a big screen
The Manhattan setting also ups the stakes – and the action – for the series. And while the quiet, palpable tension of the first two films made them perfect to watch in cinemas, the hectic density of the city gives A Quiet Place: Day One much more of an action-thriller edge than previous two entries. And since we’re only just now finding out how the invasion unfolded, the stakes are much higher in this instalment. The best horror movies work best as a collective experience, and a film with this level of spectacle needs to be seen on the biggest screen you can find.
It finally gives cats a chance to shine
Nyong’o and Quinn bring the star power, but it’s arguably their adorable cat sidekick that steals the show. When it comes to animal representation in the movies, it’s always dog this, dog that. Where’s the love for felines? A Quiet Place: Day One remedies that and makes the cat a core part of the group. As a much quieter – and more light-footed – pet, they’re far better equipped to escape the creatures’ hearing than dogs. The question is, will the trio make it through Day One unscathed?
A Quiet Place: Day One lands exclusively in cinemas on Thursday June 27. Book your tickets online.
This article was produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Paramount Pictures.