One A Quiet Place: Day One Character Connects The Prequel To The Original Films
This article contains spoilers for "A Quiet Place: Day One."
John Krasinski became a household name as an actor, and solidified his place in pop culture history by playing Jim Halpert on "The Office," but he's also become synonymous with what has become one of the strongest horror franchises in recent memory, "A Quiet Place." Directed by Krasinski and with a script co-written with Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, the first film was a huge hit and inspired a sequel that helped resurrect the box office after the quarantine era of the pandemic. The first two films focused on the Abbott family who have survived in large part because they live on an isolated farm in the middle of a forest and all communicate using American sign language as daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) is Deaf. Their story wrapped up in "A Quiet Place II," meaning any additional films set in this universe would need to focus on different people in different parts of the world.
"A Quiet Place: Day One" is the new prequel film centered on the day the long-limbed aliens (sometimes called Death Angels) arrived on Earth, but this time is set in the loudest city in the United States — New York City. Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn star as Sam and Eric, two strangers brought together at the end of the world and lean on one another in their attempt to survive. It's being called the best film in the series thus far, an opinion I agree with, and is a story almost completely separate from the first two films.
Well, with the exception of Djimon Hounsou's Henri, a character in "A Quiet Place II" who has a small role in "A Quiet Place: Day One."
The man on the island
In "A Quiet Place II," Henri is the leader of a small island colony of survivors. As the aliens cannot swim, those on the island were able to reestablish life as somewhat normal. He explains to the Abbott Family (and their friend, Cillian Murphy's character Emmett) that after the government also discovered the creatures' inability to swim, the National Guard attempted to move survivors out to the islands. Unfortunately, all of the commotion of trying to organize people on the boats drew more creatures to what was essentially an all-you-can-kill buffet of people. Of the 12 boats prepped for escaping New York City, only two made it out.
When the Abbotts arrive, they tell Henri their plan to broadcast the feedback of Regan's hearing aid over the island's radio system, as the sound has been proven to kill the creatures. Henri helps them on their journey but when things look to be too dangerous, decides against it to protect his family. Tragically, he expresses this a little too loudly, and a creature that managed to make it to the island hears him and kills him. Knowing Henri's fate makes his inclusion in "A Quiet Place: Day One" all the more tragic because his presence is a dark omen for things to come.
The man in the theater
Lupita Nyong'o's Sam meets Henri at a theater in New York City where they are all attending a marionette show. His son takes a liking to Sam's therapy cat Frodo from their seats. After the creatures attack the city, Henri helps Sam adjust to the world. He is the first to teach her that the creatures are attracted to sound, he brings her back into the theater for safety, and proves himself to be a formidable leader in the face of danger. When Sam and Eric move around New York City on their own mission, Henri guides survivors to the boats heading to the island. He's also part of the film's emotional climax, but I'll spare spoilers. The film is very much Sam and Eric's story, but with Henri there in small moments, it allows the prequel to feel connected to the larger franchise instead of a disconnected entry.
"A Quiet Place: Day One" is now playing in theaters everywhere.