HOLLYWOOD, CA — This weekend, new movie releases range from visceral to thrilling and majestic, featuring two of the most highly anticipated blockbusters this summer.
The sci-fi horror series “A Quiet Place” returns to the big screen with “Day One,” a spin-off prequel starring Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn as a pair of newfound besties fighting for survival one year after the world has devolved into silence.
Fans of Western genre can check out Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1,” the first installment of a four-part epic about the lure of the Old West.
Check out what we thought of the two new releases below.
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Movies Out This Weekend
“A Quiet Place: Day One”
Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou; directed by Michael Sarnoski
Indie writer-director Michael Sarnoski takes over the reins from John Krasinski in “Day One,” the third installment of the “A Quiet Place” movie franchise — a spin-off prequel that takes place one year after the world has devolved into silence.
The original film and the 2020 “A Quiet Place Part II” both posit a post-apocalyptic world decimated by hostile aliens that are highly sensitive to sound. At the heart of the continuing saga is a family fighting for their survival against these blind monsters who attack at the slightest noise, ultimately tearing their prey to shreds.
In contrast, Sarnoski’s new film paints the very first day of the invasion across a doom-and-gloom canvas with a poignant story of great resolve and resilience.
Enter Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), a woman afflicted with cancer in hospice care. On that fateful day of the attack, she becomes more emboldened than ever to fight for her life as the aliens rain down terror in their wake. Along the way, she crosses paths with a caring law student named Eric (Joseph Quinn). Together, the duo will forge a strong bond of friendship to navigate their new unforgiving world in the face of terror and catastrophe.
Oh, did we tell you about Frodo, Sam’s scene-stealing therapy cat? Well, the adorable quadruped also has nine lives to live in the movie.
“Day One” provides enough thrills and chills to keep audiences on the edge of their seat. It is an impressive survival thriller, buoyed up by Nyong’o’s electrifying lead performance — though, at times, the movie feels uneven!
“Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1”
Kevin Costner, Abbey Lee, Sienna Miller; directed by Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner’s lifelong four-part passion project, “Horizon: American Saga,” makes its cinematic debut with the theatrical release of “Chapter 1.” The Western epic spans a period of 15 years set in the Old West during Antebellum and post-Civil War expansion. “Chapter 2” will hit theaters Aug. 16.
The sprawling story begins in 1859 San Fernando Valley. Aptly, “Horizon” is the name of a fictional town that is being hailed as the quintessential paragon of manifest destiny, attracting pioneers from far and near. In time, however, the promised land is embroiled in an unmitigated disaster when a band of rogue Native Americans suddenly launch an attack. Unfortunately, many of the settlers will perish in the brutal raid.
An hour in, Costner finally strolls into the movie as the laconic and wary cowboy Hayes Ellison, a lone wolf who is suddenly propelled into a dispute over a toddler. Apparently, there is more to it than meets the eye, leaving Hayes and the kid’s caretaker (Abbey Lee) with no option but to go on the run.
Elsewhere, other storylines emerge, including the blossoming romance between First Lt. Trent Gephardt (Sam Worthington) and the grieving widow Frances Kittredge (Sienna Miller). At this juncture, the movie appears to be lost in a muddle, as if meandering aimlessly with no end in sight. Hopefully, the upcoming chapters of the saga can shed more light on the narrative that Costner is seeking to portray.
In all, Costner’s “Horizon” excels in dramatic gravitas and visual majesty. However, the extremely bewildering first installment can be excruciatingly painful to bear over the course of 181 minutes.
