Day One’s Best Character is Frodo the Cat
To paraphrase that famous “The Simpsons” gag, whenever Frodo wasn’t on screen in “A Quiet Place: Day One,” I was genuinely wondering why Lupita Nyong’o’s Samira (which she shortens to Sam. Get it? Frodo and Sam!) and Joseph Quinn’s Eric weren’t asking, “Where’s Frodo?” It’s a cinematic trick as old as the medium itself — when one needs to ramp up the tension and stakes in a story, put an innocent animal in danger. That works wonders throughout practically every moment of “Day One,” from the harrowing first moments of the alien invasion early on to the extended sequence in the theater when Frodo gets loose and scratches at the door with countless sound-sensitive aliens lurking just outside to the claustrophobic crowd scene where hundreds of evacuating refugees come under attack. Every time Frodo scurries out of Sam’s protective embrace and disappears for excruciating minutes at a time, my heart practically stopped in its chest.
Yet, lovable scamp that he is, Frodo simply kept coming back (nine lives and all) with nary a scratch like the hero he is. Sam needs some emotional support while browsing New York City’s bodegas? Frodo is there to serve. All the other cats are slacking on the job and refusing to help cut down on Manhattan’s rat problem? Not even the apocalypse is going to stop Frodo from performing his duties to the best of his abilities. A half-drowned Eric is desperately in need of help in his introductory scene? Like Superman himself, Frodo arrives to save the day. And consider that he did so all while never even meowing and bringing every alien on the block down upon them. Dogs might get all the love, but that’s a good kitty, folks.
