Director of Day One explains the tragic fate of the character

“A Quiet Place: Day One”: Spoilers follow.

“A Quiet Place: Day One” director Michael Sarnoski has explained the motivation behind Lupita Nyong'o’s character Samira.

In the prequel to John Krasinski's horror film, the Oscar-winning star plays cancer patient Sam, who is given a new lease on life after an alien invasion.

“That's exactly what we wanted to achieve – the idea that a dying person who had declared his life over finds a new light in the apocalypse, in the depths of the world around him,” Sarnoski told Variety.

Related: A Quiet Place: The End of Day One Explained – How It Relates to Part II

“It's this unexpected journey where everything falls apart and everything seems to be coming to an end. Sam manages to find one last little moment to cherish and enjoy, and one last bit of connection in the world.

“If the world had not ended, she would never have been able to experience this end for herself.”

Nyong'o said that while her character has an unusual backstory for a horror film, Sam's journey is made all the more emotional by the awareness of her own mortality.

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“What makes this story so exciting is that at the beginning of the film, Sam is a character who is confronting mortality in a way that we wouldn't expect from a horror film: 'What happens when your life is slipping away from you anyway and then there's an alien invasion?'” Nyong'o told Variety of the character's final moments.

“She goes on a journey where the creatures give her new life in a way, and she learns to appreciate life while she has it.”

A Quiet Place: Day One is in theaters now.

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