The Quiet Hour

I enjoyed the movie for the B movie a it really was. A B+ for sure and a low. Budget flick if not. I don't regret watching it though it was on late and I stayed up to watch. The no nudity part was the worst as the starlet did seem to not be lacking with her stacking. I started out at a seven rating but as the story was drug out it worsened stopping at four because I didn't want to do disservice to any three star rated productions not shown on these herbig screens. At this point I am just typing words to get to the six hundred minimum words. I tired to double space counted spacesI I was denied. I am tired now. Goodnight.

The Quiet Hour (2014): A British SF film (although it was shot in County Tipperary in Ireland) about an alien invasion, really more Post Apocalypse because this is the end of the world as we know it. We never see the aliens, just their Mother ships hanging the sky and the scout ships they send out to zap humans. Apparently they have come to extract minerals from the Earth's crust (we se vast open cast mines). Civilisation has fallen, only isolated groups of people survive. The narrative begins at an isolated farmhouse, 19 year old Sarah and her younger brother Tom are the only surviving members of their family, Tom was blinded in the attack which killed her mother. Their farmhouse comes under siege from marauders and they to decide whether to trust a stranger, A bleak take with more than one unreliable narrator. There is a sparse backstory available, we pick up information from conversations rather than infodumps. We see the savagery which has resulted from the crumbling of society, cannibalism isn't just alluded to - we also see evidence of it if not the actual act. Good acting. A lot more could have been achieved with a bigger budget, Still, well worth watching. Written and Directed by Stéphanie Joalland. On Netflix. 6.5/10.

As often, reviews and ratings on IMDb are completely wrong, as I found The Quiet Hour vastly underrated.

In gloom and at slow pace, accompanied by a very rich and touching score by Carlos José Alvarez, following Sarah and Tom through the hardships of survival is an intimate journey.

By avoiding an excess of action-driven plot points, as you would expect from your average alien invasion film, this one comes across far more evocative and tense.

It reminded me a bit of Testament by Lynne Littman, but The Quiet Hour is the better cinematic experience of the two, and I guess somewhat more positive. (Not that any of them could really be called cheerful to the slightest.)

I can't understand the 4.7 rating. This movie may not stand out in any particular way but it doesn't have any of the hallmarks of a bad movie. The acting is good, it looks good, it has a simple story but one that is compelling and a good atmosphere. I enjoyed watching it.

Sarah and her blind brother Tom are trying to survive after an alien invasion has ended life as they knew it and wiped out most of the Earth's population. (She's described as "feisty" officially but not that's not the word I would have used. She's just trying to get by, like everyone else.) When a stranger, Jude, pursued by a violent gang, disturbs Sarah and Tom's home, they have to decide whether or not to trust him and figure out how to stop the threat of the gang.

It doesn't have sci-fi action, it's a "quiet" film with a background sci-fi setting but still some interesting alien images and ideas.

Aliens have invaded the World to plunder the Earth's mineral resources. It is one year on and all anyone seems to know about them is that for two hours a day they return to their Mother Ships and people can come out of hiding. If they are caught outside at any other time they are killed.

Sarah – Dakota Blue-Richards ('Skins') is living on a farm with her brother and father and they are managing to survive with their limited food stocks and solar panels for power. Others are not so fortunate and she knows that it is only a matter of time before other people turn up and find their idyll. She has had to grow up fast but does not know if she has the mettle that will be needed if such an event occurs; she does not have long to wait to be tested.

Now thus is an independent film with a sci-fi twist and for lovers of the genre this may well fall short of expectations. However, if- like me- you love existential films and the psychological elements then you may well be pleasantly surprised. The acting is al solid with a great sense of foreboding throughout. It is also engaging and the characters all manage to engender the right amount of chemistry to make you care about them. The action is done well too. This is a film I really enjoyed and hardly noticed as the time passed – which is always the sign of a god production. Another example of how independent does not mean done on the cheap – recommended viewing.