A Quiet Place: Day 1 takes place before the events of the previous installments. This prequel with Lupita Nyong’o is set in New York and its pitch had already been mentioned in A Quiet Place 2 by a character present in both films. Did you spot it?
Warning, this article contains spoilers for “A Quiet Place: Day 1” and “A Quiet Place: Day 2”.
A Quiet Place: Day One is currently in theaters. Michael Sarnoski’s feature film takes place before the events of John Krasinski’s films A Quiet Place (2018) and A Quiet Place Part 2 (20214).
This prequel starring Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn and Alex Wolff takes place in New York on the first day of the alien invasion. A sick young woman finds herself stuck in New York as the creatures land. Everyone will have to learn the hard way the rules of survival in order to escape the monsters.
At the beginning of the film, Samira (Lupita Nyong’o) is in a hospice. Her nurse (Alex Wolff) suggests she go to the theater. Although reluctant, she finally agrees to go. In the theater, she is seated, with her cat on her lap, behind a family composed of a couple and a little boy who keeps turning around to pet the cat. The father turns around to apologize.
Spectators of the first films then note that the latter is none other than Djimon Hounsou, a character already present in Without a sound 2. The latter appears several times in Day 1. He is the one who explains to Samira that the creatures kill based on noise and takes care of the survivors in the theater. We will see him again at the end of the film on the boat responsible for evacuating the New Yorkers.
Paramount
Without a sound! Day 1
The pitch for Day 1 was already in Quietly 2
In the 2021 feature film, Djimon Hounsou appears after an hour of film. He plays Henry, the leader of the colony who lives on an island and welcomes young Millicent Simmonds and Cillian Murphy. The latter go to the island in order to be able to broadcast the ultrasound fatal to the creatures on the radio.
Henri explains that he has been present on the island since the beginning of the attack and confides to Emmett (Cillian Murphy): “We were in the city when we heard the sirens screaming. When it was found that they couldn’t swim, the National Guard was ordered to put people on any boat they could find. As soon as people saw that the first one took off without any problem, there was a crowd movement. Everyone started pushing and people started screaming. There were a dozen boats ready to evacuate us in the port that day, only two were able to get out.” Note that a second character from A Quiet Place Part 2 is also in the prequel: Henri’s son who appears at the end of the previous installment. Henri’s wife, however, does not appear in the 2021 film. We therefore do not know what happened to her.
Paramount
Without a sound 2
A character who makes the connection
In the press kit for A Quiet Place: Day 1, the director Michael Sarnoski explain : “Henri is the key that connects the two worlds of the Sans un Noise franchise. In Sans un Noise 2, he tells the story of the day the aliens landed in New York. Henri was such a compelling character that I decided to bringing him back. I always felt like something was haunting Henri and now we’re learning what it was. Djimon did an incredible job in this scene. He brought so much intensity, while remaining a warm person. and sweet.”
For his part, Djimon Hounsou talks about his character: “When all hell breaks loose, he immediately recognizes that the way we live, the way we interact with each other, needs to change dramatically. Michael was great to work with. He’s such a gifted storyteller.”.
And unlike A Quiet Place Part II, in which his character can speak since the island is isolated from the creatures, the actor had to remain silent for Day 1. He explains that he found communicating in silence exhausting. “It was actually much more difficult for me. I performed a scene so intense that I only had to repeat it several times to destroy myself.“
Quietly: Day 1 is currently to be seen at the cinema.
