A Quiet Place: Day One’s ending sees Lupita Nyong’o’s Sam listening to Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.” Written and directed by Michael Sarnoski,A Quiet Place: Day One’sreviewswere positive for the most part, and the prequel spin-off follows the first few days of the alien creatures’ arrival. Sam and Eric arrive at Patsy’s only to realize that it was destroyed, so they go to the jazz club Sam’s dad used to bring her to as a kid. Eric tries to make Sam feel better by pretending to be a musician, and later bringing her pizza.
After some time together, Sam and Eric take to the streets with Sam’s cat. Sam gives Eric her yellow sweater as she starts banging on cars and setting off alarms so that the creatures will hear and come after her. This gives Eric enough time to head to the dock with the cat, running to reach the water before the creatures catch up to him. He makes it, jumping into the river and getting to the boat. Meanwhile, Sam wanders the street listening to music. She pulls out the earphone jack, the sound alerting the creatures as they appear behind her.
Does A Quiet Place: Day One Have A Post-Credits Scene?
A Quiet Place: Day One takes the franchise back to the beginning, but does the prequel have a post-credits scene setting up what is still to come?
Does Sam Die In A Quiet Place: Day One’s Ending?
The Prequel’s Climax Flirts With Ambiguity
Sam removing her earphones and letting Nina Simone’s music play out loud was purposeful. Sam knewA Quiet Place’salien creatureswould be alerted by the sound.Day Oneends before Sam’s death is shown onscreen, which draws her death into question. But Sam drawing the creatures to her meant she knew they would attack her, all but confirming her death. It’s hard to believe Sam would run away considering her decision.
While it’s possible she managed to escape and could appear inA Quiet Place Part III, Sam’s death at the hands of the alien hunters seems inevitable.Teasing her death rather than showing it is also more effectiveforA Quiet Place: Day One’sending. The character had already been through a lot and seen death all around her in the few days of the aliens’ destruction. She was at peace at the end of the film and showing her death would have undermined that.
Sam’s Decision To Call The Aliens In A Quiet Place: Day One’s Ending Explained
She Welcomed Death On Her Own Terms
Sam risks her life making noise throughout the streets so that Eric can catch the boat headed for the island — the same island whereDjimon Hounsou’sA Quiet Place Part II’scharacteris first introduced.Sam playing Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” is symbolic of how she felt at the endofA Quiet Placeprequel. She was at peace, having finally felt alive again after so long of feeling defeated while waiting for death to claim her.
In her final moments, Sam is the happiest she’s been in a long time. Sam was able to return home, to discuss memories of her father, and have some pizza. Crucially, she’d made a friend in Eric, who genuinely cared for her. She was close to dying for a long time, having been in hospice care, so it’s possible she felt it was her time to go. Sam got the chance to feel alive again, and perhaps she wanted to go out on a high note, and die on her own terms with no fear.
Where To Watch A Quiet Place Day One: Showtimes & Streaming Status
A Quiet Place returns with a prequel movie, and there are different options for where to watch A Quiet Place: Day One in theaters or on streaming.
Why Sam Gives Eric Her Yellow Sweater Before He Leaves
The Gift Was An Emotionally Intimate Gesture
Despite not wanting Eric to follow her around initially, Sam grew quite close to him throughoutA Quiet Place: Day One. And though it was a wordless exchange,Sam likely gave Eric her yellow sweater for sentimental reasons. It was something Eric could keep to remember her.
It was tangible, a piece of herself that would provide him comfort outside of her cat. Sam could’ve easily slipped her note into Eric’s pocket before he left, but the act of giving him something that belonged to her was a more intimate act, one loaded with emotion.
Where Is The Second Boat To The Island At The End Of A Quiet Place: Day One?
There’s Only One Boat Despite Confirmation Of A Second InA Quiet Place Part II
InA Quiet Place Part II, it was confirmed there were two boats that successfully made it to the island. There were a lot more boats and people, but the noise of boarding the boats drew the creatures to the water, and they killed almost everyone there, leaving only two boats that were headed to the island. However, the end ofA Quiet Place: Day Oneonly shows one of the boats mentioned and none of the boarding chaos that accompanied it.
It’s possible the second boat had already sailedand made it to the island. It could also be that the second boat was simply offscreen, or that the filmmakers simply forgot to include it. But the fact that it wasn’t prominent in the final moments ofA Quiet Place: Day Oneis odd, especially since the initial boarding process isn’t shown at all.
How A Quiet Place: Day One Sets Up A Quiet Place 3
Eric’s Survival Suggests His Story Will Continue
A Quiet Place: Day Onesees Eric make it onto the boat, which pretty much confirms he made it to the island alongside Djimon Hounsou’s character. With that in mind, it’s possibleA Quiet Place Part III, which was confirmed followingthe box office success ofA Quiet PlacePart II, will include Eric.He could appear as one of the island’s survivors following the creatures’ attackatthe end ofA Quiet Place Part II.
For now, it’s unclear who will return inA Quiet Place Part III.
Eric was a big part ofDay Oneand it’s unlikely his story would just end after surviving such a harrowing experience. If Hounsou could have a role in the prequel, then it makes sense that Eric could show up in the fourth film in some capacity. The fact that Eric made it onto Hounsou’s boat specifically suggests his story isn’t over just yet. Eric is now fully immersed in the world ofA Quiet Placeand it’s possiblePart IIIwill give us even more information about his life and what he’s been up to in the intervening years.
Eric is now fully immersed in the world ofA Quiet Placeand it’s possiblePart IIIwill give us even more information about his life and what he’s been up to in the intervening years.
The Real Meaning Of A Quiet Place: Day One’s Ending
The Alien Invasion Movie Is A Surprisingly Human Story
A Quiet Place: Day Onefocuses a lot on people’s humanity and wanting to feel alive and normaldespite a situation being anything but. Throughout the film, Sam and Eric are scared at various points, but the message is ultimately to enjoy the moments in life that are fleeting, to overcome fear, and do the things that make one feel full of life again. When things get bad, a reminder of how good it is to feel alive is needed.
The arrival of the alien creatures may have changed what it means to live in the world, butDay Onegoes beyond simply surviving it.A Quiet Place: Day One’sending also showcases the power of friendship and not being alone. Sam pushed Eric away, but he was adamant about not going through such a devastating experience without someone by his side. It’s a lesson that Sam learned. She’d been on her own for a long time; she’d forgotten what it was like to be around people who weren’t only there for you because they were being paid to be.
How A Quiet Place: Day One’s Ending Was Received
The Character-Driven Narrative Was Celebrated
Overall,A Quiet Place: Day Onewas received well by critics and viewers. Being a prequel to the highly successfulA Quiet PlaceandA Quiet Place Part II,Day Onewas under an above-average amount of scrutiny when it released. Its success would prove whetherA Quiet Placecould expand beyond the characters of the first two movies as a franchise, whereas if it failed, it could have halted any potential exploration of the impact of the terrifying invasion outside the Abbott family.
Despite being a big-budget alien invasion film,A Quiet Place: Day Onewas an incredibly grounded and human narrative, as much a reflection on the nature of death and mortality as it was a showcase of tense, action-packed scenes depicting the downfall of society at the hands of an extra-terrestrial menace.
Thankfully, the prequel toA Quiet Placewas a success, as evidenced by the 86% critical score and 72% audience scoreA Quiet Place: Day Oneaccrued onRotten Tomatoes. The plot ofDay One,including its ending, were also central to the praise the movie received too, especially in regards to how character-driven the story ended up being. Despite being a big-budget alien invasion film,A Quiet Place: Day Onewas an incredibly grounded and human narrative, as much a reflection on the nature of death and mortality as it was a showcase of tense, action-packed scenes depicting the downfall of society at the hands of an extra-terrestrial menace.
However, as much as the story was praised, the narrative ending ofA Quiet Place: Day Oneis mentioned in reviews far less than the performances of the cast, especially Lupita Nyong’o. For example, critic Christopher Mills ofSoundspherewrites:
“With an outstanding story, script, and even an eerie and intense score by Alexis Grapsas, this film wouldn’t be the film it is without the astonishing performances from both Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn. I had high expectations for Lupita, and she fully surpassed those with the powerful performance that she gives as Sam, a character that we get to learn so much about. By the end, she gives the most heartbreaking performance that is unlike anything we’ve seen in any A Quiet Place film before.”
Mills' comments echo the views of many critics when it comes to the ending ofA Quiet Place: Day One.The general sentiment is that it was a solid conclusion to theA Quiet Placeprequel, but not because of specific events, twists or turns. Rather, the ending of the 2024 sci-fi horror was so strong because of the characters and the incredibly (and surprisingly) intimate journey viewers followed them along. As Mills puts it:
“From switching from a horror film that puts fear into your soul by making you not want to make a single sound from watching to creating a horror film set in the same universe but bringing us these two characters who were destined to come across each other, allowing us to learn more about who they are, their values, and just see their friendship bloom throughout the film. There’s no better way to put it than to say that it’s not only a horrifying story, but it’s emotional, touching, and will leave you in happy tears by the end.”
A Quiet Place: Day One
Cast
A Quiet Place: Day One is a spin-off of the A Quiet Place franchise conceived by John Krasinski. The film is set at the beginning of the invasion as humanity scrambles to survive, before the events of the original film, with Lupita Nyong’O leading the cast, directed by Michael Sarnoski.
