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.

Visually, this low budget drama is nicely done with atmospheric location and lighting.

The performances aren't bad. The main problem is that the actors really had very little to work with, and I feel for them.

There is no real plot beyond a very shallow rehash of the besieged-by-nutters theme. The SF/alien aspect is completely superfluous and is in no way required by the travesty that masquerades as a storyline. The dialogue is dreadful, with thin chunks of cliché exposition and old-hat speculations about aliens who the budget will not allow us to see.

As is so often the case, the first reviews of this movie are implausibly glowing... and similar. Draw your own conclusions.

Perfect title since most of the movie is just boring...

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.