What would you do if you found out it was your last day to live?

Would you accept death?

Fight to survive?

Or would you quietly try to find hope in the darkness, one last time?

Samira, played by Lupita Nyong’o, is a terminally ill cancer patient in hospice who has lost hope for happiness. When an outing with her center in the city goes south, she finds herself in the middle of an alien apocalypse where the slightest sound can get you killed. Accompanied by her cat Frodo, she goes out to the dead silent city with nothing to lose. On her trek, she meets Eric, played by Joseph Quinn, a man who’s scared for his life yet adamant to make sure Samira finds happiness in hers before she says goodbye.

“A Quiet Place: Day One” is the third film in the Quiet Place franchise, directed by Michael Sarnoski and acts as a prequel to the earlier two movies. Unlike its predecessors, Day One takes place in New York City, offering a new environment for audiences to witness the aliens called Death Angels in action.

While these monsters seem to have a sort of humanoid form, their large limbs overtake most of their body making them look anything but human. They are quadrupedal, their forelimbs much larger and longer than their back legs, making them run incredibly fast and lunge towards prey with brutal, crab-like claws. The Death Angels’ heads are the most horrifying part of their anatomy, with no eyes and a long mouth filled with menacing rows of sharp teeth. Like the rest of their body, it’s covered in tough armor-like skin, though the plates on their faces are able to open like a blooming flower when the creature is focusing on a sound.

While the rural setting in the first “A Quiet Place” movie definitely instilled fear by having Death Angels burst from the woods and chase characters through open fields, watching them crawl through New York was even more terrifying. They stampeded through the roofs of apartments, scaled glass skyscrapers and lurked in the smallest spaces in the city. The destruction and fear they caused showed how unstoppable these creatures were when they first appeared. How they would stop at nothing to hunt down anything that made the smallest noise.

Samira and Eric, along with the cast of side characters, also helped show the hopelessness these creatures brought much better than the previous films. Day One showed the first day of the invasion, and while we had a glimpse of it in “A Quiet Place: Part Two,” having all of the new movie based around it was something I was really glad to finally have. We see characters learn to keep quiet, become absolutely horrified of the unpredictable Death Angels and more than anything, stay with other people.

What was missing from previous films was a stronger sense of community, of humans supporting one another in these hard times. Helping people they’ve never met, not just family or friends. Finding those who survived the primary attack, bringing them to a safe space with no hesitation. Trusting a stranger with their life. In this movie, all of the characters stay together.

Except for Samira.

She went off on her own, her cat her only companion, wanting to find something to bring her joy before death. Instead she found Eric, who accompanies her on her journey. The characters have an amazing chemistry together which was definitely the highlight of the movie. Eric’s scared yet lighthearted attitude paired with Samira’s pessimistic and somehow selfless personality pulled me in. She helped him calm down in stressful situations and he helped her find joy in life again.

The actors did a wonderful job portraying both characters. Everything from the shakiness in their voices full of fear to their piercing screams of anger were beautiful.

While the Quiet Place movies aren’t exactly perfect due to the various inconsistencies and plot holes surrounding the Death Angels, I find them enjoyable, Day One especially. The characters are always a really big part of why they’re so interesting to watch, and this time more than ever.

Another character I deeply loved was the cat Frodo, though he did stress me out whenever he would get near the Death Angels. Seeing animals die in horror movies is worse than any of the other deaths, so I went through the whole film praying for his survival.

To my surprise, the ending left me in tears despite being somewhat optimistic. I think it would be best to leave it at that to not spoil anyone.

Enjoyers of apocalypses, nerve-racking chase scenes, freaky monsters and deep feelings — this one’s for you. If there’s one thing I’ll never get tired of, it’s the Quiet Place movies. Especially when I know the theater will finally stay silent.