A Quiet Place: Day One is the prequel/spinoff to the sci-fi/horror franchise starring Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn. Franchise veteran John Krasinski has a writing credit on this one but passes over the directing duties to Michael Sarnoski (Pig). So, does this franchise work without its usual cast and director? Let’s find out.

Much like the opening sequence in A Quiet Place: Part II, Day One is all about what happened the day the aliens arrived. Our protagonist this time around is Sam, a cancer patient with an adorable support cat named Frodo (get it?) who is, understandably, pretty bitter and frustrated about her situation. She lives in a home with other cancer patients and begrudgingly agrees to head into Manhattan to see a show with the other patients on the promise that they’ll go and get some pizza after the show on the island.

Of course, this just so happens to be the day the aliens land, which sort of throws the plans out the window. With the military having destroyed all the bridges, it’s up to everyone on the island to get to evacuation points and escape.

Starting with my nitpicks, I really wish Day One showcased the trial and error/learning curve of realizing the survivors need to be quiet to stay alive. In the film, Sam is knocked out during the initial mayhem and when she comes to, Djimon Hounsou is there to grab her hand and indicate the “no noise” rule. I think it would’ve been a lot more interesting to see how they came to that conclusion, but it happened off-screen. Also, as adorable as Frodo the cat was, it was pretty immersion-breaking having the cat never meow or purr once in this film considering the noise rules. The cat plays a crucial role for both Sam and her travelling companion Eric, an English law student, but I couldn’t help thinking that this cat was too well-behaved and quiet.

But in the end, these are minor complaints. A Quiet Place: Day One is really good, better than the second part I would say. The reason for that statement is the chemistry and bond formed between the two characters. Sam is bitter, resentful, and in a lot of pain (mentally and physically), so we feel for her and her plight. She eventually finds herself travelling with Eric, whose fear of these aliens causes him to have panic attacks. The two strangers find themselves having to support one another and I found it very touching and humbling to see their journey unfold. Helping bring this to life are great performances by the two leads. Quinn and Nyong’o work great together, with Nyong’o really diving deep into the psyche of her character, while Quinn’s performance as Eric grounds everything together in surprisingly touching ways.

The set design is really on point here as well, transitioning from the hustle and bustle of everyday NYC to a dilapidated hellscape in a matter of hours. Cars and walls are drenched in blood, but never so much as to push beyond the PG-13 rating. The scenes with the aliens are also quite good too. While the first film had two creatures and its sequel upped the ante, this is definitely the most aliens we’ve seen in this franchise to date, with hordes of them being on screen at times, stampeding through the streets. But quite often, we’ll get one-on-one encounters, including a tense moment in a sewer and another in a burning building. As such, the sound design in the film is on point, as you really notice the background ambience a lot, whether this is rainfall, shattered glass, or breathing.

But in the end, the very human story at the center of the film keeps Day One from being just “more Quiet Place“. It doesn’t retread old ground and actually offers a very humbling and sympathetic story about life. Some horror fans may be let down by this, but I think Day One ends up being stronger for it. A worthy addition to the franchise for sure.