Summary
A Quiet Place’s recently released prequel took it upon itself to not only depict a hazy first week of the alien apocalypse but also the titular first day, which it arguably sweeps under a rug in order to emphasize character-driven drama. The first day was technically depicted inA Quiet Place Part 2’s flashback prologue, too, butDay Onewas where the series truly had an opportunity to examine the earliest reactions and experiences of those alive to endure thehorrific invasion of Earth’s newest inhabitantsand missed the mark in one big way.
A Quiet Place: The Road Aheadapparently launches sometime this year. As a spin-off, one ofThe Road Ahead’s most interesting beats should have been where it lands in theQuiet Placetimeline because the three movies themselves take great pride in brandishing how many days have passed since alien creatures had overrun the planet with each movie noting which day they take place on or around. Unfortunately, even ifA Quiet Place: The Road Aheadis concerned with canon events it won’t be able to rectifyDay One’s odd lapse regardless of what day it takes place on.
In what is perhaps its most egregiously kneecapping decision,A Quiet Place: Day Onereveals that sound being the creatures’ trigger, as well as the creatures being unable to swim, was already ubiquitously known by day two at the latest—at least in New York City, whereDay Oneis set and whereThe Road Aheadalso seemingly takes place based on a New York Post issue in its reveal teaser.
This choice is condemning because the whole allure of a day-onesurvivor-horrorprequel should have been how clueless and helpless everyone was before people eventually learned they needed to remain silent. If that was so, there would be countless instances throughout the movie where people weren’t aware that they needed to be incredibly mindful of their sound output and paid the price.
Instead, after the second time Lupita Nyong’o’s character is consecutively knocked out and regains consciousness, everyone already seems to have gotten the memo as they’re holed up and purposefully quiet. Moreover, there are planes graciously and conveniently soaring overNew York Citymultiple times blaring this information as a PSA and drawing the destructive ire of hundreds of sound-sensitive aliens.
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead’s recent story trailer laid bare when its present day is set:day 105. That means itdoesn’t take place as early asDay Oneand yet the prequel movie ensured that there’s no room to iterate between the moment the aliens began plummeting from space and when everyone was already made aware ofhow perilous sound has becomeanyhow.
Day Onecertainly has its fair share of casualties, but only a few of the people who are whisked away by blind monstrosities on-screen are killed because they had no idea they needed to keep quiet, and that’s a shame given how much potential a day-one prequel had to lean into survivors actually discovering this for themselves. Therefore, whetherThe Road Aheadwas set on day one, 50, or 105 wouldn’t make a difference with regard to world-building and how much New York City already knows about the aliens.
The only aspects of the story that this potentially has an impact on are how much the protagonist, Alex, has gone through since day one and how many tools and tricks people have been able to devise, such as knowing to walk barefoot on sand or planting traps in an area to distract the creatures. This could make it more difficult forThe Road Aheadto carve out a narrative niche inA Quiet Place’s mythology, though if it’s anything like the movies it is derived from it’ll probably be far more character-driven than anything and simply implement the post-apocalyptic setting as a poignant backdrop.
A Quiet Place: The Road Aheadis scheduled for a release in 2024.
