★★★★
One of the great strengths of John Krasinski’s original book Peaceful place, beyond its ruthlessly effective premise, was the decision to place the film far into its post-apocalyptic setting. Day 472. The world belonged to monsters, humanity had adapted to survive. Details were scant on how and why, with imagination encouraged to fill in the gaps. The fact that it only took three films for the franchise to pull off the prequel card might then seem a little depressing. Or rather, it would be Krasinski and new writer-director Michael Sarnoski who weren’t smart enough to know it themselves. A quiet place: first day is less an origin story than an intimate character study with a narrative that could only exist with the first forty-eight hours of the invasion.
Intimacy, in a larger and more physically destructive context than Krasinski’s films, is said to enrich Day one. There are hints of a global response and wider ramifications around the world that would end, but only at the periphery, in the rotation of a labeled globe or in radio revenue from more distant communities. Instead, a touch of War of the Worlds – notably thanks to a New York decor – permeates. 28 days later Also. The result is very quickly, very emotional, involving, helped by a staging approach keen to root the spectator in the street and the immersion of the crisis. All the smoke, sediment and clever camera work.
Manhattan is a wise choice for this purpose, boasting a universality of experiential recognition unlike any other felled metropolis. With an initial spread comparing the daily volume of the city to a constant scream, the silence that falls is all the more profound. Captured in the fray is the love for the city itself. It’s in the magnificent depths of Pat Scola’s cinematography and the funeral drone of Alexis Grapsas’s music. A dozen supervillains have already uprooted New York, but it’s never hurt this much.
Despite the devastation, Lupita Nyong’o proves perfect casting. Nyong’o’s talent for wide-eyed horror is, of course, already well known – just look at Jordan Peele’s Us – but here it’s layered with deeper, earthier pains. She plays Samira, a terminally ill poet, waiting to die, at the beginning of the film, in a cancer hospice on the outskirts of the city. Aside from Reuben, Alex Wolff’s infinitely patient nurse, Samira’s only companion in life is her cat Frodo. Memories of a happier youth, eating pizza while her father played cheerful melodies on a communal piano, linger, but there is nothing else. To a soul at the dawn, the end of civilization can only seem like a greatly extrapolated metaphor. It’s a meatier premise than most.
Along the way, Sam meets Eric, who is played by puppy-eyed Joseph Quinn of Stranger Things fame. A tenderness builds between them but it’s a slow, intensely watchable burn. The chases and explosions are thrilling throughout the film. It’s these scenes of silent, chemical connection that hit the hardest and will last the longest. By far the strongest scene in Day one is one in which Sam and Eric take turns screaming up a storm, each using the clap of thunder to mask the decibels of their despair. Later fellowship within the church leans more toward fiction, as does the inclusion of the perpetually endangered Frodo, but the pair excel nonetheless.
What this proves, of course, is that the franchise’s success depends less on the premise and more on how it’s run. Without the beating heart of human interest, A silent place could so easily sink into the monotony of calm, silence, silence… bang. It’s not tense if you don’t care. Based on Day one, however, Krasinski and co. be careful. Better yet, they also know how to interest us. This will take them far.
T.S.