The opening title card of "A Quiet Place: Day One"(2024) sets the tone with a statistic about New York City's decibel levels, establishing this film as inherently urban, with relentless noise as the backdrop of the city.
In most apocalyptic films, cities serve as mere backdrops for mass evacuations. People flee from sprawling metropolises to suburbs, small towns, countryside, forests, wilderness, or even protected zones, as if survival in a post-apocalyptic world necessitates an escape from urbanity. This was the case in "A Quiet Place" (2018) and "A Quiet Place Part II" (2021). Even when characters return to the city, they soon face another departure, as if urban environments are temporary shelters for modern humanity. This film, however, posits a question: Can the city, the true homeland for many modern souls, be reclaimed after a disaster? The narrative revolves around this quest to return to the urban homeland.
At the outset, Samira, deaf to the world due to a terminal illness, is keenly interested in leaving her suburban hospice to see a show in the city. As she rides the bus across the bridge into the town, she seems to savor the sunlight of that moment. However, her disappointment is palpable when she discovers the show is a puppet performance—too dull, quiet, and classical for her taste. Perhaps she had hoped for a monster thriller instead? Her soul belongs unmistakably to the modern city.
Unlike protagonists in apocalyptic films, who typically exhibit a strong will to survive, Samira has never considered survival. Early on, she asks a nurse, "What if I die in half an hour?" As the film progresses, it becomes clear this is no jest: she has already outlived her doctors' expectations, and every moment now is both a gift and a reminder of her imminent death. Suppose the apocalypse represents a universal threat of death. In that case, Samira has been living her apocalypse under the shadow of dual dooms from which there is no escape.
Contrary to the resourceful survivors of similar narratives, Samira is too frail to fight for her life; even walking becomes arduous in the latter half of the film, stripping away any semblance of survival. Hence, the focus shifts solely to death; she has been on a journey toward death from the beginning. The film, therefore, tackles the often-avoided yet crucial question of apocalyptic cinema: In a world where survival seems impossible, death becomes a matter of choice, and deciding how and where to die becomes the ultimate challenge.
The church scene in the middle of the film is essential, representing a place to reconcile life and death. Yet, Samira doesn't linger. Her final destination is a familiar pizzeria, not because she wants to eat pizza (she refuses takeout), but because she needs to sit there herself, to return and die there.
Next to the pizzeria is the jazz bar where her father used to play, linking the city to her family. The theme of "coming home" echoes the conservative values of "A Quiet Place." Still, it transcends mere return—it's about reclaiming her identity as a true child of the city. Alien invaders dominate the town and impose a silence mandate, making the once noisy city eerily quiet. In the face of these powerful intruders, ordinary mortals must flee.
Samira, the city's daughter, must stay and fight for its essence as people scatter. She embodies both Odysseus and Antigone, calling back the city's sounds—the urban clamor—whether noise or jazz—defines the city's character. In the film's final moments, she creates both sounds: noise to save others and music for herself and her father, reflecting their shared taste (contrasting with her early disdain for her fellow patient's taste). She rebuilds her life within the frameworks of family and city.
The film essentially becomes Samira's journey home, explaining why the portrayals of the male lead and other city dwellers are somewhat cursory. Ultimately, the film forces us to ponder: Can apocalyptic cinema, with its inherent constraints, delve into deeper themes? After all, this film, res, orts to a protagonist on the brink of death.
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