Day one and stays in New York

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for A Quiet Place: Day One.

A Quiet Place: Day One It ends with Sam (Lupita Nyong’o) having a good reason for staying in New York City and not getting on the boat that would have allowed her to escape. The prequel begins by showing Sam’s life before that Quiet place Universe’s alien invasion that forever changes the world into a place where making noise can prove to be deadly. Then, it tackles the early days of the invasion as Sam, her cat, Frodo, and their new friend, Eric (Joseph Quinn) navigate a changed world.

Sam and Eric’s friendship is at the center of this surprisingly heartfelt horror filmBecause both characters form a deep and unexpected bond with each other. Despite this, only Eric and Frodo escape New York City on the boat, with Sam choosing to stay behind in the alien-infested metropolis, effectively sentencing himself to die at the hands of the creatures. Although this is not the first movie in the Quiet place franchise to have a major character sacrifice, Sam’s specific circumstances make her decision a uniquely powerful way to conclude the prequel.

Sam didn’t get on the boat so she could distract the aliens

She wanted to give Eric & Frodo their best chance

From a practical point of view, Sam doesn’t go on the boat because she wants to keep the aliens focused on her instead of Eric and Frodo. The area near the water is swarming with aliens, who can feel the boat passing by. However, it cannot reach the ship as a known weakness of A quiet placeThe aliens are that they cannot swim, meaning they can drown. By triggering the alarms of the stalled cars near the water, Sam draws the aliens to the sounds, allowing Eric to maneuver around the cars and sprint to the end of the pier.

Even with Sam’s distraction, Eric and Frodo barely make it, jumping into the water just as the aliens are closing in on them. If Sam had joined Eric and Frodo, they probably would not have made it, because the aliens would have more quickly detected the sound of their movements and reached them before they reached the edge of the pier. Once in the water, Eric and Frodo are rescued and pulled aboard by Henry (Djimon Hounsou), leaving Sam happy with the knowledge that her loved ones have escaped safely.

Sam stays in New York because she is ready to die

She is at peace with herself

From a more personal point of view, however, Sam doesn’t let New York in A Quiet Place: Day One Because she accepted her death. It was established early in the film that Sam has an unspecified type of terminal cancer, and later it became clear that all she wanted was to have pizza one last time at Patsy’s, the pizzeria near the jazz club where her father used to play in Harlem. Sam finally has her pizza, though not in the way she expected, along with the unforeseen bonus of the beautiful friendship she forms with Eric.

Between these developments and ensuring that Eric and Frodo make it to safety, Sam achieves everything she wanted and more than she could have imagined. Despite her excruciating pain and the hardships she endured, A Quiet Place: Day One Ends on Sam’s own terms, blasting Nina Simone’s song “Feeling Good” and smiling as the aliens are drawn to the loud music. She ends her story with a sense of inner peace she earned through her actions.

Sam’s letter to Eric confirms that she did not get on the boat

Her final words speak volumes about her decision

After he and Frodo are on the boat, Eric finds a letter from Sam in her yellow cardigan that she gave him shortly before her sacrifice. In the letter, Sam shares her gratitude to Eric for helping to remind her how to feel alive again, and for bringing her home. Sam needed the reminder of what it felt like to be alive, and Eric gave her that through their journey together.

The letter also includes tips on how to best care for Frodo, whom she left in Eric’s care. Sam’s words further confirm that the early days of the alien invasion left her fulfilled with all the emotions and experiences she needed. Before feeling ready to die. This gives A Quiet Place: Day One A deeply emotional ending that feels fitting after the well-developed relationship and arcs that both Sam and Eric undergo during the prequel’s deep story.