Silent Bite

There are three main reasons somebody would go to see A Quiet Place : Day One. 1. They are a fan of the first two movies in the series. 2. They dug the apocalyptic alien invasion vibes of the trailer. 3. They enjoyed director Micheal Sarnoski's previous (and only other) film Pig. It is the third group who are most likely to be satisfied.

Lupita Nyong'o stars as Sam, a terminally ill cancer patient on a last visit into New York when a meteorite shower brings the "Death Angels" to Earth and all of a sudden making a noise equals meeting a grizzly end. Given her situation Sam reasons that the bliss of one final slice of pizza is worth more than a few hours/days/weeks living in pain and fear so sets off towards Harlem and her favourite pizzeria. On the way she encounters Eric (Joseph Quinn) who, in shock and thousands of miles from his family in the UK, needs a goal to focus on and resolves to help her achieve her dying wish whether she wants him to or not.

These events unfold much more like an intimate character piece than a grand alien invasion or scary monster movie. It's the story of a dying poet smelling library books, trying to invoke childhood memories and generally squeezing in a final few moments of joy as the last grains of sand drop through her hourglass. It's the story of a scared young man finding a way to carry on when the only plan he had for life comes to a sudden, bloody end. It's also the story of a bemused but chill cat wondering what the hell is going on. The fact most of their developing relationship plays out in near silence gives it emotional nuance and allows both actors to show their depth. With natural warmth and expressive eyes it's easy to see why Joseph Quinn has shot to the top of casting director lists post Stranger Things but this is mostly Lupita Nyong'o's show and she is great. Within five minutes of meeting Sam you are instantly on board with her resigned and dignified but justifiably bitter character and she anchors everything with a down to earth humanity you rarely ever see in a film of this type. You will really want her to get that pizza.

The monster invasion "Quiet Place" stuff the film was sold on actually comprise its least compelling parts. We've already seen the moment of contact in the previous film's flashback and moving it to the big city doesn't make it feel any grander since we are still following a single persons perspective. There's also a sense of fatigue about the set pieces that come in the same two flavours as the previous films. Either the aliens are prowling around making generic clicking noises while someone silently hides or they are barrelling around knocking things over as they make a meal out of catching prey a fraction of their speed. There is tension but it comes from the fact you really want the characters to succeed rather than from any well crafted horror beats and while scenes of a deserted and dust shrouded New York are atmospheric the creatures themselves have really lost their intimidation factor three movies in.

Day One is a much more textured film than it needs to be and hits emotional heights you wouldn't expect but there is a sense it is two separate films overlayed on top of each other and one of them is much weaker than the other.

7 Water features to hide your voice out of 10 silent locations.

Comments

Can I Pet That Dog

Good Boy sees a man called Todd move into his grandfather's old house in the woods to convalesce from a serious lung condition. Unfortunately, his peace is interrupted by a series of creepy events. It is unclear how much of what is happening is due to the supposedly cursed nature of the house and how much is to do with a relapse of his illness. Standard horror stuff, apart from the fact the entire film is told from the point of view of Todd's faithful companion, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Indy. On paper, a mostly dialogue free horror movie is a risky move, as evidenced by last year's "In a Violent Nature" (a slasher movie shown from the point of view of the wordless killer). Good Boy though has one massive advantage over that movie; instead of spending an hour odd staring at someone's back, we are looking at an adorable dog. And debut director Ben Leonberg really makes the most of his star attraction, who just so happens to be his own real ...

I Dunno Boss

Despite his enduring fame, Bruce Springsteen is not an obvious choice for a biopic subject. A lack of any outward demons means the usual life story treatment might have been a bit of Sunday morning stroll. The solution Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere comes up with is to focus in a particular point in his life in 1981, when, on the verge of mega stardom, he has to reckon with creative and mental health struggles. It's fitting that we focus on a point in his life when Bruce is trying to find who he wants to be, as the film itself is pretty indecisive. Coming off a successful tour, Bruce (Jeremy Allen White) struggles to adjust to the downtime. When neither a return to his humble hometown nor the purchase of a fancy new car making him feel any better, he gets back to making music, using a four-track recorder to turn his bedroom into a makeshift studio. The music he makes eventually becomes the album "Nebraska", a tonal shift he is determined to pursue, even as his man...

Fortune Favours the Rich

For a comedy, Good Fortune paints one hell of a bleak (and therefore, let's be honest, probably accurate) picture of the current iteration of the American Dream. Money begets money and a life of cold plunges, ridiculously expensive watches and "business meetings" that consist of all expenses paid meals with your mates. Meanwhile, hard work begets nothing but more hard work in a gig economy not even an Angel can help you navigate. Said Angel is Keanu Reeves's Gabriel, a small winged minor deity who is in charge of preventing people from crashing as a result of texting while driving. He is desperate to make a more meaningful impact so, against the instruction of his boss, he decides to try and save a lost soul. He spots Arj (Aziz Ansari), a down on his luck, wannabe documentary maker, scraping by doing odd jobs via apps and sleeping in his car. When Arj is fired by wealthy tech bro Jeff for using the company credit card, he hits rock bottom and Gabriel attempts to inspi...

There Can Only be One

Trailers for Him had Jordan Peele's name slapped all over them, which is understandable from a marketing point of view. In reality it is simply produced by the"Get Out" directors company, Monkeypaw Productions. It is actually directed by Justin Tipping, from a script he co-wrote with Skip Bronkie and Zak Akers. The prevalence of Peele's name in the advertising means the film is bound to draw unflattering comparisons with his own work, which is a shame as the film has its own merits. Cameron "Cam" Cade (Tyriq Withers) grew up idolising Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), star quarterback of the San Antonio Saviours. When White suffers a grisly injury during the Super Bowl, Cade's father tells the young fan that real men like his idol make sacrifices for greatness. Fast forward about a decade and a half and Cam is about to be drafted to the NFL, where he is tipped as a potential challenger to White's "Greatest Of All Time" status. When a mascot in ...

Fight For Your Right

The debate about the "Great American Novel" (a book that encapsulates the spirit and character of the United States) continues to rage. While One Battle After Another is loosely inspired by a book (Thomas Pynchon's Vineland), it feels like Paul Thomas Anderson's second stab, after "There Will Be Blood", at crafting the Great American Movie. This is a very different beast to his 2007 masterpiece, both in setting and tone, but is just as epic and wide reaching in its own way. Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) is the leader of militant revolutionary group "The French 75" and her partner Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the team explosive expert. The movie opens with the self-styled freedom fighters breaking a bunch of detained immigrants out of a holding camp. This brings them into the crosshairs of Colonel Stephen J. Lockjaw who begins pursuing the group. After being arrested, Perfidia disappears, leaving Pat to raise their baby daughter in hi...

From Little Acorns

Shelby Oaks is the result of the most successful ever horror movie Kickstarter campaign. Helmed by popular YouTube critic Chris Stuckmann, it is positioned as a fright flick "for fans, by fans". While it isn't the obnoxious disaster such a mission statement could have led to, and actually shows a fair amount of promise, it does end up feeling like an homage to better films. The film opens as a mockumentary detailing the disappearance of a group of ghost hunting YouTubers called the Paranormal Paranoids. It then appears we are dealing with a found footage movie when, twelve years on from the disappearance, Mia (Camille Sullivan) watches creepy footage of her sister Riley (Sarah Durn) who was the Paranoids' on camera psychic. Turns out the film is neither of these things but more of an occult mystery as Mia follows the clues to find her missing sister whom she is sure is still alive. As you can imagine, a film that begins with two fake out beginnings is a little mudd...

Econ Air

Single location thriller Flight Risk is the latest film to suffer from an "over eager" trailer. That is to say, the trailer covers pretty much everything that happens in the movie, more or less in the exact order it occurs. On the plus side, it isn't a film that was ever going to keep any secrets so it doesn't suffer as much as some others have. FBI agent Madelyn Harris (Michelle Dockery) takes a flight with informant Winston (Topher Grace) but a short way into their journey they discover the pilot, played by Mark Wahlberg, is actually a mob hitman there to end them both before Winston can squeal. There is a brief opening at an Alaskan cabin and the finale is on a runway, but for the most part it's just the three of them in the cabin of a small plain. Events unfold almost like a theatrical play as the three talk and argue with intermittent attempts at murder. The main thing to know about Flight Risk is that it is ridiculous. The decisions the characters make a...

Raising the Roof?

Roofman is the media given name of real-life army veteran and serial McDonald's robber, Jeffrey Manchester, played here by Channing Tatum. Using his special talent for noticing patterns and routine, he burgled over 40 of the fast food chain's restaurants while gaining a reputation for being a polite thief. In an early scene we see him give a store manager his coat as he apologetically forces the staff into a freezer. Gentleman criminal or not, he stole a lot of corporate money, so when the police finally finger him for a single job he is sent down for forty-five years on trumped up kidnapping charges. In prison, his skills kick into gear again and he escapes on a delivery truck. Needing to lie low until his buddy can sort him out with a fake passport, he takes up residence in a Toys "R" Us for six months. Despite warnings he can't help but get involved in the lives of the people he watches on CCTV, particularly good-hearted single mum Leigh (Kirsten Dunst). To be...

Man About Town

Caught Stealing is not your typical Darren Aronofsky film. More playful and less mired misery, it feels like the director having a stab at a Guy Ritchie-esque caper around late 90's Manhattan. For the most part, it works. Austin Butler is Henry "Hank" Thompson, a New York bartender and former baseball prodigy. When he and girlfriend Yvonne (Zoe Kravitz) are asked to keep an eye on Hank's neighbours cat, they end up in the crosshairs of Russian gangsters, Yiddish hitmen and "concerned" cops. This may be more playful in tone than his usual fare, but this is still an Aronofsky film, so Hank is a man with an obsession, in this case baseball. His devotion to his beloved San Francisco Giants dictates his mood and is the foundation of his relationship with his equally obsessed mother, whom he calls every day to discuss their prospects with. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm is intrinsically linked to his own cut-short ball career and the ghost of what could have been...

The Truth is Down There

Bugonia is the fourth (fifth if you count 2022 short film Bleat) collaboration between director Yorgos Lanthimos and star Emma Stone. It's unlikely to trouble the Oscars in the way The Favourite or Poor Things did, but we still have an entertainingly unhinged fable on our hands. Stone plays Michelle Fuller, CEO of pharmaceutical company Auxolith. Shortly after the title card, we see her continually fluff a video she is recording on corporate inclusivity, bristling at the continued use of the word "diversity". She then instructs her assistant to draft an e-mail telling employees they are no longer required to remain in the office beyond 5.30. Unless they have work to do. Unbelievably, this pesticide-spreading, corporate lip-service-paying, business shark will soon cut a sympathetic figure. That's because she is about to be abducted and held captive by conspiracy nut Teddy Katz (Jessie Plemons) and his intellectually disabled cousin Don (Aidan Delbis). We have alread...

Dan Says its Alright

Search This Blog