A quiet place: day one would have been a completely different film if it hadn’t been for a crucial moment between Eric (Joseph Quinn) and Samira (Lupita N’Yongo), where He admits that he is gay and had suicidal thoughts before the creatures arrived. A quiet place: day one is more than a prequel; it is a character-driven horror film about an alien invasion, about appreciating life and fighting for survival, and The deleted scene would have added more depth to the story’s themes. Furthermore, Eric’s revelation as a survivor and the film’s lead would be a milestone in the representation of queer characters in the horror genre. The scene also creates a duality regarding what it means to be in a “quiet place,” where silence is the difference between life and death. Removing the scene was a huge mistake and a missed opportunity that would have given the film a new level of meaning and representation.

A quiet place: day one

Experience the day the world fell silent.

Release date

June 28, 2024

director

Michael Sarnoski

Main genre

drama

Studio(s)

Platinum Dunes, Paramount Pictures, Sunday Night Productions

Sales Partner

Paramount Pictures

Continuation(s)

A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place: Part II

Franchise(s)

A quiet place

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In a deleted scene, it is revealed that Joseph Quinn’s Eric is gay

In the scene, which is just over two minutes long, Samira asks Eric why he was so smartly dressed on the subway and whether he was perhaps on his way to a job interview when the accident happened. Then, in A beautifully played and emotionally moving reaction, reveals that he grew up in a small town where he did not feel acceptedparticularly from his father, who had a certain expectation of masculinity from his sons and moved to New York City to be somewhere more welcoming. Although he moved to a place where he could comfortably be himself, he felt extremely lonely in the vastness of the city. Tired of being alone, he revealed that he thought “it would be easier to live nowhere,” and that in the moments before the creatures arrived, he he thought about ending his life.

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Quinn’s impressive performance in these 120 seconds or so not only brings the audience closer to his character, but also proves that he has what it takes to shine alongside the immensely talented Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, who is a strong figure in every role she takes on. Keeping the scene could have created a more dynamic and interesting duality between the two characterswhere Eric has the ability to choose death over life, and Samira has no other choice due to her terminal illness. Looking at the scene through an intersectional lens, the couple could build a relationship with each other on a deeper level because they are both outsiders and potential victims of identity-related prejudice and violence: Eric as a gay man and Samira as a black woman. The scene brings the two closer together and adds an additional layer of nuance to this character-based horror which highlights the achievements of Quinn and Nyong’o in context.

“A Quiet Place: Day One” missed the chance to give the horror genre some much-needed representation

The horror genre is historical guilty of exploiting homophobia and demonizing queer-coded characters by portraying them as deviant or evil. For example, Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambsthe end of Overnight campthe open homoeroticism of Billy and Stu in Screamand not to forget the revival of the “queer icons” Babadook and Pennywise. Making a gay man the hero of the story would not only be subversive, it would be a milestone in the portrayal of queer characters in horror. In the film, Eric is not defined by a stereotypical representation of how a queer person should look or act, as evidenced by the fact that his sexuality is never really questioned in the final cut.

The concept of “otherness” has always been at the core of horror, representing the subconscious fears of mainstream society and the ruling class, which is why queer characters are typically violently punished by death and villains are often queer-coded. Aliens, monsters, zombies, and humanoids are all products of fear of the unknown or of any deviation from what is considered normal or acceptable in mainstream society. In the case of A quiet place: day oneIn the context of Eric’s queerness, the aliens could also represent these fears in reverse order: The creatures are blind to the world around them and persecute those who make too much noise, as well as those who are unwilling to see the humanity in people who are different from them.Leaving the scene in the film, which does not provide much information about where the aliens come from or how they got there, would be an opportunity to subvert the classic tropes of the alien invasion narrative while offering positive queer representation in a genre that until recently was hostile to any kind of “otherness.”

“A Quiet Place: Day One” takes on a whole new meaning with this deleted scene

If the scene remained in the film, A quiet place: day one could take on a new metaphorical meaning, as For queer people, the silence of oppression typically means survival in a hostile world where living loudly is an act of bravery and fearlessness. Eric’s survival at the end would have been even more triumphant and meaningful, especially since suicide is one of the leading causes of death for gay men (and LGBTQ people in general). He could have simply let the creatures kill him, as a suicidal act, but he chose to live instead.

In the context of his suicidal intentions, Eric’s will to survive is at an end a radical act of self-acceptance and his friendship with Samira reminds him that he is not alone and makes him realize that life is a gift too short not to live it truly. Also, Samira makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Eric and Frodo the cat, choosing to die on her own terms. In a way Eric and Samira already lived in their own “quiet places” before the events of the filmsilent suffering as she wrestles with the concept of mortality and the meaning of life.

Whatever the reason, Removing this crucial and incredibly acted scene from A quiet place: day one was a missed opportunity to give the film a deeper allegorical meaning and perhaps provide a bit of social commentary amongst the chaos of the typical alien invasion story. If the scene had stayed in the film, much of what happens would have taken on new meaning and more people would have been able to see themselves in Eric and identify with his triumph at the end. While the film works as it is, it could have been so much more.

A quiet place: day one can be rented or purchased from Amazon.

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