New York goes silent in ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’

CEBU, Philippines — While developing the next installment for the captivating world of “A Quiet Place”, producer and writer John Krasinski found himself wanting to see how the rest of the world is dealing with this otherworldly crisis.

“I especially wondered how people in a big city like New York, with all the chaos and noise there, all the millions of people, would respond,” he says.

This idea formed into “A Quiet Place: Day One”, where an ordinary day in New York City turns horrific as creatures rain down on Earth and start slaughtering humans indiscriminately. “I wanted to take a place we all know and put it in extraordinary circumstances,” Krasinski explains.

“New York City, whether you’ve been there or not, whether you like it or not, is instantly familiar. And in a world where murderous creatures can appear at any time, from any place they detect a noise, New York is not the best place to be.”

For director-writer Michael Sarnoski, he wanted to center all the chaos of a big city crumbling from an invasion around one point and character, based on the unique execution of the original “A Quiet Place.”

“John took the concept and brought it to new heights, it was so elevated and character-driven,” he says. “The first two movies are about one family, so I expanded the world, but that was just incidental. The heart of it is making sure that the characters’ stories are front and center.”

Given a parameter of being set in New York City, Sarnoski began to build an idea for “A Quiet Place: Day One”, and sell it to Krasinski. “I gave John a one-minute pitch about a woman who comes to New York on a quest for her favorite pizza just as the world is ending. John’s response was, ‘Yeah! Let’s do it,’” Sarnoski says.

With this, the character Samira was born, and for this crucial role Sarnoski already had an actor in mind.  “Lupita was at the top of Michael’s list,” says Krasinski. “She’s a very powerful actress. The role was both physically and mentally challenging — she was effectively terrorized daily — and she handled it brilliantly and elegantly, bringing a combination of bravery and vulnerability to her character.”

Lupita Nyong’o was so ready to be part of this silent world, and she delighted in her role as Samira. “It was such a meal to play Samira,” she says. “When the creatures land, she blacks out. When she awakes, it’s an entirely new world where no one will allow her to speak and she has no idea what happened. How many popular films ask an audience to sit and witness silence? It ends up speaking volumes.”

To accompany Samira on her journey, she meets Eric, played by Joseph Quinn, and the strangers bond through trauma and survival. “Joe’s wildly talented,” says Krasinski. “In Day One, he walks the razor’s edge of fight or flight on what is the worst day of his character’s life. He and Samira are trying to survive under harrowing circumstances that force them together. That relationship makes them the heartbeat of the movie.”

Survive a brand new, horrifying new world as “A Quiet Place: Day One” arrives in Philippine cinemas on June 26.