The Best Character In A Quiet Place: Day One Isn't A Human (Or An Alien)
Warning: This article contains spoilers for "A Quiet Place: Day One."
Thanks to the efforts of John Krasinski, the "A Quiet Place" franchise has managed to boast quite a formidable call sheet of A-listers and talented character actors alike. In addition to Krasinski in the first film, the cast included talents such as Emily Blunt (who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in "Oppenheimer" and, of course, is married to Krasinski in real life), the scene-stealing Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe to round out the nuclear family. The 2021 sequel added recent Best Actor-winning "Oppenheimer" star Cillian Murphy, Djimon Hounsou, and even Scoot McNairy. The prequel film "Day One," which /Film's Chris Evangelista pegged as the best of the series in his review, might have started from scratch with almost a whole new cast (one exception is that Hounsou reprises his role from "A Quiet Place Part II"), but writer/director Michael Sarnoski kept the streak going with the great Lupita Nyong'o, future "Fantastic Four" star Joseph Quinn, and Alex Wolff.
None of these actors, however, even come close to the scene-stealing star of "Day One." If you're reading this far, you've seen the movie by now and likely knew exactly where we were going with this just from the headline alone. Yup, we're referring to the undisputed runaway star of the picture: Frodo the cat, played by a pair of furry felines named Nico and Schnitzel. "A Quiet Place" isn't exactly the first movie in this genre to come up with the idea of placing an animal at the center of the action, but rarely has any used its four-legged friend to as great effect as this one does. And, best of all, the kitty makes it out A-Okay in the end. As Aragorn once famously proclaimed, "For Frodo!"
Frodo the cat made 'A Quiet Place: Day One' even more tense
To paraphrase that famous "The Simpsons" gag, whenever Frodo wasn't on screen in "A Quiet Place: Day One," I was genuinely wondering why Lupita Nyong'o's Samira (which she shortens to Sam. Get it? Frodo and Sam!) and Joseph Quinn's Eric weren't asking, "Where's Frodo?" It's a cinematic trick as old as the medium itself — when one needs to ramp up the tension and stakes in a story, put an innocent animal in danger. That works wonders throughout practically every moment of "Day One," from the harrowing first moments of the alien invasion early on to the extended sequence in the theater when Frodo gets loose and scratches at the door with countless sound-sensitive aliens lurking just outside to the claustrophobic crowd scene where hundreds of evacuating refugees come under attack. Every time Frodo scurries out of Sam's protective embrace and disappears for excruciating minutes at a time, my heart practically stopped in its chest.
Yet, lovable scamp that he is, Frodo simply kept coming back (nine lives and all) with nary a scratch like the hero he is. Sam needs some emotional support while browsing New York City's bodegas? Frodo is there to serve. All the other cats are slacking on the job and refusing to help cut down on Manhattan's rat problem? Not even the apocalypse is going to stop Frodo from performing his duties to the best of his abilities. A half-drowned Eric is desperately in need of help in his introductory scene? Like Superman himself, Frodo arrives to save the day. And consider that he did so all while never even meowing and bringing every alien on the block down upon them. Dogs might get all the love, but that's a good kitty, folks.
A star (or two) is born
Not to chalk up all the promising box-office tracking numbers for "Day One" to the film's cat alone, but I don't think it's a stretch to say the country — nay, the world — officially has #FrodoFever. As much as the mere presence of the cat character and his role in the film is noteworthy in and of itself, however, let nobody overlook the fact that this might be the greatest animal actor performance in years. The Academy fell in love with Messi, the dog who played Snoop in the Oscar-winning "Anatomy of a Fall," and rightfully so. Yet even such a widely-praised pet can't quite compare with the sheer range on display by cat actors Nico and Schnitzel in "A Quiet Place." Dare we say this is the greatest cinematic feline since Jonesy in "Alien"?
Look no further than Nico and Schnitzel's collaborative temperament. Sure, it's impossible for any of us to tell which of the two actors was on set for any given scene, but I'm willing to bet we never hear a single sad story about either one refusing to leave their trailer until they get their requisite scritches or arriving on set hours late just because they have the clout to get away with it. Many an ambitious film production has been railroaded by uncooperative animals that just couldn't (or wouldn't) stick to the script. Nico and Schnitzel, on the other hand, nailed what seemed like every reaction shot, every instance of shot blocking, and every moment of heightened emotions. And what's more, they even managed to melt the heart of the cat-averse Lupita Nyong'o, too. What can't they do???
"A Quiet Place: Day One" is now playing in theaters, and you can obsess over Schnitzel's personal Instagram account here.