10 Best Characters From 2024 Horror Movies

A Quiet Place: Day One confounded expectations in many ways, not least that it presented audiences with a protagonist who wasn't long for this world and simply wanted to make it through one more day.

Samira or Sam (Lupita Nyong'o) is a most unconventional horror movie hero given that she's terminally ill with no hope of long-term survival whatsoever. We know she's going to die soon from the outset, and nothing can possibly change that.

Sam's goal is decidedly more modest than staying alive, then - to trek across New York City, visit the club her late father used to play jazz at, and then get a slice of pizza, just as she did with her dad as a child.

Lupita Nyong'o is typically fantastic in the role, bringing enormous pathos to a character we know won't make it to the end credits alive, and yet finds a way to die on her own terms against overpowering odds.