A Quiet Place Day One ending explained: What happens? How does it link to A Quiet Place 2?

A Quiet Place: Day One is now out in UK cinemas, as we find out how the aliens landed in New York City. The new prequel, which stars Joseph Quinn and Lupita Nyong’o as Eric and Sam, begins on – you guessed it – day one of the Death Angel invasion. The movie follows the city trying to quickly adapt to the creatures with super sensitive hearing, as we focus on one woman’s journey through this horrendous attack.

The duo are joined by Frodo the cat, too, as they make a treacherous journey across the city and try to survive the days ahead. This all culminates in a pretty brutal third act, which not everyone makes it out of alive. We’ve broken that down below, as well as giving some more insight into how this movie links to others in the A Quiet Place universe. Let’s get stuck into the A Quiet Place: Day One ending explained.

Be warned though, we’re getting into major spoiler territory from here on out, so make sure you’ve seen the film before reading on.

A Quiet Place Day One ending explained SPOILERS

Lupita Nyong'o in A Quiet Place: Day One — (Image credit: Paramount)

A Quiet Place: Day One begins by introducing us to Sam (Lupita Nyong'o), a terminally ill woman living at a hospice with her service cat Frodo. Reuben (Alex Wolff), her nurse, organizes a day trip to New York City for a marionette show, which Sam agrees to on the promise that they’ll get pizza. However, when they’re in the city, something terrible happens as Death Angels crash land from the sky and swiftly begin killing everyone in hearing distance.

Amid the chaos, it quickly becomes clear that the creatures hunt through sound as Sam takes shelter in the theater alongside other survivors, including Reuben and Djimon Hounsou’s Henri (who you’ll recognize from A Quiet Place 2). However, things deteriorate quickly and the noise of the backup generator in the building gets Reuben killed and leaves Sam to fend for herself.

Announcements over loudspeakers in the city warn citizens to get off the bridges as they blow them up to try and isolate the aliens (who can’t swim). A city-wide evacuation via boat then begins from the port ferry, but Sam has other plans. Given her dwindling health, she decides instead to go in search of her favorite pizza to have on what she thinks will be her last day on Earth.

On her journey, she’s joined by Eric (Joseph Quinn), a law school student from Kent who can’t deal with what’s happening, so he decides to tag along with her. Their journey through the city’s financial district, in the subways, and eventually in an old church is fraught with danger the whole way as they encounter creatures and barely escape with their lives.

However, along with Frodo the cat, the pair do eventually make it to Patsy’s Pizzeria in Harlem only to find it destroyed. They head instead to the jazz bar where Sam’s dad used to play while Eric locates some other pizza as they distract themselves from the apocalypse going on outside.

When they leave Loretta’s, they both spot a boat making its way out of the city as the creatures hover on the shore either side, looking on but unable to reach the survivors. A plan formulates as Sam gives Eric her jumper and the cat, and creates a loud distraction to give him time to try and make the boat. It works, until Eric makes a noise that sends the aliens hurtling toward him.

Luckily, he manages to make it to the water just in time and swims out to the boat, where he’s helped up by none other than Henri, who also made it out. After realizing that he’s safe, he hugs Frodo before he finds a note from Sam in his pocket, warning him to keep the cat safe and not overfeed him.

Sam, meanwhile, decides to take control of her own fate, wandering through New York City listening to 'Feeling Good' on her iPod. She then takes the headphones out, blasting it out loud and we see the shadow of an alien before the screen cuts to black.

Why isn’t Sam killed after distracting the creatures?

It’s never quite made explicit, but the Death Angels in the A Quiet Place universe are very easily distracted. It seems that when Eric accidentally makes a noise as he tries to escape, they instead focus their attention on him, allowing Sam to mostly fade into the background.

Do Eric and Frodo survive?

Yes! By the skin of their teeth, both Eric and Frodo make it onto the boat in the final few moments, managing to make it out alive. This is all down to Sam’s ingenuity of distracting the aliens. Luckily, too, it seems like the Hudson River is especially calm that day as they manage to swim there pretty easily...

Where is the boat going? How does this set up A Quiet Place 2?

The boat ends up at the island in A Quiet Place 2, which is located outside of mainland New York. As we find out in that film when Emmett (Cillian Murphy) speaks to Henri, only two boats made it there, including this one, and the survivors have been safe there ever since. Sadly, though, one of the creatures does make it to the island, killing many of the inhabitants.

Is Eric on the island?

Quinn’s Eric doesn’t explicitly appear in A Quiet Place 2, but it doesn’t mean that he’s not there. We do see a bandit wearing a yellow jumper in that movie, although it doesn’t seem to be the same one Eric was wearing, so let’s stay hopeful!

What happens to Sam?

While we don’t explicitly see what happens to Sam, it seems pretty clear that she dies at the end. After playing the song out loud, a Death Angel jumps into the shot behind her, signalling this will be her final moment.

Will there be another A Quiet Place film?

A Quiet Place Part 2 — (Image credit: Paramount)

Yes, another A Quiet Place film is planned, but it’s not a follow-up to Day One. A Quiet Place 3 is in the works and will once again follow the Abbott family. Originally, John Krasinski said he planned to release the movie in 2025, but it seems quite likely that it will be a while longer before that’s on the cards.

Is there A Quiet Place: Day One post-credit scene?

No, there’s no A Quiet Place: Day One post-credits scene. They roll as usual to the end of 'Feeling Good', before switching to the moving score of the movie. Then tension ratchets at the end just before the screen goes to black, but that’s all we get.

A Quiet Place: Day One is in UK cinemas now and US theaters tomorrow. For more, check out our other stories:

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.