I am a huge fan of the A Quiet Place franchise, so I was very excited to finally get to watch this installment, to see how it all started. But I had hoped for a scarier, deeper dive into the genesis of the alien invasion, as well as how that first day played out for various people, and how the world responded. Instead, I got a story about one already dying woman with a cat (which, even as/despite being a service cat, never once meows or hisses at giant aliens, huge explosions, or other threats to her human, thus conveniently never luring the noise-seeking monsters), who befriends an anxiety-ridden Londoner and helps him survive.
Sam is on a day trip into the city from hospice to watch a show when the invasion begins. She has her cat Frodo with her on a leash, and as people around her are snatched up, she manages to survive. At first, she holes up with others including her male nurse, until she must move on. When she leaves the building, fires burn around her and roads are filled with debris, but instead of carrying Frodo, she has him walk everywhere on his leash while she carries a notebook in a canvas bag large enough to hold…well, a cat. But, I digress.
Sam seems to be a magnet for the lost and confused. She helps siblings by offering them a candy bar and leading them to a thoroughfare where hundreds of people are heading toward the harbor. Seems the authorities have announced that boats are waiting there to rescue people, if the people just all make their way there now. All at once. En masse. What could possibly go wrong?
Next, Frodo leads businessman Eric to Sam, and despite her best efforts, she can’t get rid of him. He follows her until she relents and they come to depend on one another for survival (him much more so than her). This is the part of the movie that becomes more about their developing friendship and less about the end of the world as we know it/alien invasion. And that’s pretty much the rest of the movie. The End.
So, if, like me, you are hoping for a scary, edge-of-your-seat alien invasion movie…sorry, only about 10 minutes will fit the bill. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for an inspiring drama about a new friendship with a silent cat as one of the stars, this one might be okay.
- Top Scare: Eric’s appearance
- Heartbeats: 2 1/4 out of 5
- Gore Factor: 2 out of 5
- Scare Factor: 2 out of 5
- Recommended for: 13 and up
