A Quiet Place: Day One director explains how the prequel sets up A Quiet Place Part 2

A Quiet Place: Day One
(Image credit: Paramount)

A Quiet Place: Day One director Michael Sarnoski explains the film's tie-in to A Quiet Place Part 2.

"I thought it would be fun to, bring in a little bit of a connection to A Quiet Place Part 2. But I also wanted to use Henri’s character to sort of stand in for what Sam's story could have been, that was kind of the story of this family man who wanted to escape the city," Sarnoski tells 12DOVE. 

Henri (Djimon Hounsou) is one of the main protagonists in A Quiet Place Part 2, and is a leader and father who will do anything to protect his son. In Day One, Henri is in New York City when the ultrasonic monsters descend upon the city, where he encounters Sam (Lupita Nyong'o).

"So, I thought it'd be fun to sort of use that as a bit of a foil, but then also give him a little extra backstory about the things he's had to go through and deal with to become the person that he is in the second Quiet Place when he's kind of a leader of this community. So, there were a few things to play with. It was also just amazing to work with Djimon [Hounsou] and I really wanted to get to work with him because he's an incredible actor and so easy to work with."

Day One serves as a prequel to the first two Quiet Place movies, which were both directed by John Krasinski. According to Sarnoski, it was Krasinski's idea to make a day-one movie and set it in New York City. He tapped Sarnoski to direct after watching his film Pig, which stars Nicolas Cage as a recluse forced to return to the city in order to rescue his beloved pet pig.

A Quiet Place: Day One hits theaters in the UK on June 27 and the US on June 28. For more, check out our chat with Michael Sarnoski about making a cat one of the movie's main stars or about casting Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn as the perfect pair.

Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for 12DOVE currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.