WARNING: Major spoilers. Go see the film first, then return here.

Logline: A woman named Sam finds herself trapped in New York City during the early stages of an invasion by alien creatures with ultra-sensitive hearing. (IMDb)

by Kat Valdez

The teenage girl sitting next to me sobbed as the credits rolled for A Quiet Place: Day One, starring Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn.

Was she upset because moviegoers see, in the last seconds of the film, what will inevitably be the gruesome fate of protagonist Samira (“Sam”) just after she helps her cat, Frodo, and friend Eric escape from New York?

The teenager’s mother hugged and comforted her, but the sobbing continued even in the women’s restroom. I wanted to say, “I hear you. You wanted Sam to escape and live happily every after with Eric, right? Me, too.”

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  I mean, that fun scene – an oasis in the terror of an extraterrestrial invasion – when he gets her up on stage (in front of an imaginary audience) as the assistant to his magician in an impromptu close-up magic act, and Sam smiles? Heart eyes.
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  And when she helps comfort and quiet Eric during a panic attack in the flooded subway tunnel as an alien monster is lurking and about to attack if he screams? Chef’s kiss.
  
• And when she’s suffering without her medication, unable to sleep because, as she mentioned earlier, “every muscle in my body is on fire,” and he holds up a note “Which meds do you need?” then risks his life going to an abandoned pharmacy to get those meds? Swoon.
  
  But the reality is, Sam was going to die soon anyway. We knew that from the opening minutes of the film when we see Sam in hospice, reading her rage-filled poetry during group therapy.

It would’ve been a slow and painful death, is what I’m saying. It was better this way, the way she chose to die: unplugging her ear buds from the boombox playing her dad’s jazz. Blasting the music. Knowing the “inhabitants” would immediately come for her.

The look on her face: brave, defiant, full of life.

(Kind of like Eddie Munson shredding on the guitar during his Stranger Things swan song.)

This was Sam’s character arc, from hopeless, pissed-off poet to hero.

Such is the emotional roller coaster and thrill ride that is A Quiet Place: Day One, the third installment in John Krasinski’s blockbuster franchise.

This chapter features different characters than in the first two films, a family headed by Krasinski and Oscar-nominated Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer). You don’t learn anything about the aliens and why they’ve come to earth, but that isn’t the point.

The point is, when the end of the world comes, who will you help and who will help you? What human kindness and connections will result from catastrophe?

English actor Quinn has a massive fan base from his role as Eddie in Stranger Things, and admirers will appreciate his turn as Eric, a sensitive British law school student who doesn’t want to be alone during the alien invasion.

(He’s not going to stop following you, Sam. Be nice to the frightened, handsome man.)

I highly recommend seeing this film for the beautiful character study, the chemistry between the two strangers who (reluctantly on Sam’s part) become friends as they fight to survive, and the brilliant cat Frodo, played by tuxedo felines Nico and Schnitzel.

Frodo has some human-level intelligence and stunt skills. He meowed only once. Smart kitty.

And when do you ever see a summer blockbuster led by a Kenyan-Mexican actor such as Lupita Nyong’o? Love the representation. The role reversal of a Black woman saving the white man is something to relish, as well.

I don’t recommend this film if you’re a Highly Sensitive Person. Too much violence. This HSP had to spend parts of the movie with her hands clamped over her mouth to keep from screaming.

But I had so much fun.

The other part of the ending was satisfying and uplifting: Frodo, Eric, fellow survivor Henri (Djimon Hounsou) and his family, and thousands of other New Yorkers escape on ferries. Because the alien monsters can’t swim.

Kat Valdez usually avoids scary movies. She makes exceptions for blockbuster thrillers and art house horror, such as Midsommar and Hereditary.

When she’s not soothing her frayed nerves with rom-coms by Katherine Center and Emily Henry, you can find her writing at the thrilling intersection of pop culture and racial equity.

TheDefiantCursty.com Pop culture through an equity and inclusion lens