The Quiet Hour

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.

The actors are good, the filming is good and the production is good. If this was a meal I'd describe it as good vegetarian. There's nothing really original, there are other movies with a very similar theme out there. It's power is its youth, our heroes, honestly portrayed when faced with loss and other far more aggressive stranger adults, whom happen to outnumber them. The youngest is immature and has a disability, all wrong steps stem from this innocence. From that point of view this is well crafted, and an engaging experience. The plot has several moments of true creativity and forethought. It ends well, which was satisfying. For me, being much older than the cast, I tended to see many missed opportunities. Sometimes the camera captured nature or sky with real flare, but there could have been much more of this. The Quiet Hour could have been peppered with symbolic natural image, on both small and grand scale. I liked the location, but it wasn't invested with enough for me. Then there is the aliens. I'm assuming a truly tight budget, because a bit more of that creativity could have brought this movie into a more contemporary horror. We enjoy a new age of computer graphics, and we should delight in possibilities. Overall though, as the movie wasn't long, I'm happy to recommend it.

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 really should learn to check reviews before watching these things. I could have gone out to the shed, got some paint, daubed it on a wall and sat down to watch that dry instead.

Described as "sci-fi" there was very little to merit that description apart from a few brief CGI shots of alien spaceships hanging from the clouds like haemorroids. At least that was all I saw of the sci-fi element in this film before I realised that its lack of pace was casting an air of gloom over me and switched off.

The plot is slow. I mean, glacial. It's also, how can I put this.........dull.

I tried really hard but gave up after 35 minutes.

An independent movie with a low budget - what can one expect? There have been way better movies in a few respects, with similar things (production values, genre, actors etc). Having said that, this is quite decent to say the least. The story is tight overall and while it all plays out more or less in one location, that helps the movie quite a lot.

You still have to cut the movie some slack and suspend your disbelief. The what would I do department is always one that is quite rich when it comes to movies like this one. Still give it a try if you have a heart for it - after the beginning you should be able to tell if the movie and you are a good fit.