A Quiet Place: Day One Director Explains Ending

The director of A Quiet Place: Day One has shared his opinions on the film’s ending for the first time.

The New York City-set sci-fi horror, a prequel to 2018’s A Quiet Place , has already surpassed $100 million at the global box office. It stars Joseph Quinn and Lupita Nyong’o as two city residents trying to survive an invasion from a race of deadly aliens with advanced hearing.

Here’s what the film’s director, Michael Sarnoski, says about the conclusion. Spoilers follow for the of A Quiet Place: Day One.

A Quiet Place: Day One SPOILERS

A Quiet Place: Day One ends with Nyong’o’s Sam, a cancer patient living the last months of her life, removing the plug from her music player and blasting a song to the entire street, causing a wave of aliens - or ‘death angels’ - to descend upon her.

“That was an essential part of the film,” Sarnoski tells Discussing Film . “I mean, you know that in order to do justice to the character and what she’s going through, [the movie] has to somehow end like that. I think the biggest task for me with this project was to find a way to have that ending but not make it feel the way [it appears in the script]. On paper, it feels bleak and sad, just like the end of the world is, but in practice and in how you experience it, I wanted [the ending] to feel somehow triumphant and life-affirming.”

Related: A Quiet Place: Day One Has Biggest Opening Weekend of Series So Far

Moments before Sam’s death, she helps Eric (Joseph Quinn) reach the safety of a boat in the harbour by smashing windows to distract the aliens. Eric finds a note from Sam in the pocket of a sweater thanking him for reminding her how to live.

“Sam takes back her agency and her joy,” continues Sarnoski, “and I think trying to feel that way while you’re seeing [her choose to die on her own terms] was kind of the fun challenge of it. I was excited by what many people would think is a risky ending, and hopefully, we pulled it off. I’m happy with it. I feel that way when I watch it. But it’s a tricky one, it’s definitely risky.”

A Quiet Place: Day One released June 28, 2024, and is now playing in theaters. In other news, the A Quiet Place video game gets a frightening new trailer .