Writer: Stephanie Joalland (Screenplay)
Starring: Dakota Blue Richards, Jack McMullen, Karl Davies, James Browne, Brigitte Millar
Plot: In the aftermath of an alien invasion, a feisty teenage girl sets out to protect her farm from human scavengers who will stop at nothing in order to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Promising Sci-Fi
Story: The Quiet Hour starts in a world invaded by an alien force that constantly drill, well apart from two hours a day, the only hours the remaining humans can be active. Sarah (Richards) lives in her family farm with her blind brother Tom (McMullen) just keeping to themselves through the invasion.
When a stranger Jude (Davies) arrives in their home, he is injured but also being tracked by a group of savages who are hunting him down looking to take advantage of anything to survive for themselves. Sarah must make the difficult decisions to defend her farm from the human enemy, deciding on who to trust.
Thoughts on The Quiet Hour
Characters/Performance – Sarah is the feisty teenager waiting out an alien invasion with her brother, she is in control of everything within the house and knows how to stay safe, she must break her rules to survive though. Tom is the innocent brother that is blind living with Sarah, he has a skill for music but at times can hold Sarah back. Jude is the mysterious stranger claiming to be a reporter that Sarah takes in but we are never sure what to think of his motives in this film.
Performance wise, Dakota is good in the leading role as we see how she has grown up since her debut in The Golden Compass. Jack and Karl both give solid supporting performances without being brilliant, but it would be fair to say the performances reflect the films environment.
Story – This is a good way to bring us a sci-fi thriller by doing something slightly different with the ‘they won the invasion’ angle. It all runs at a slow pace but that is because the film doesn’t want to focus on the alien invaders but instead focus on the human survival with the invasion going on. I do think it all works without being the most engrossing film you will see.
Sci-Fi/Thriller – The world has been taken over by an unknown alien presence, humans hide to survive, this all sounds sci-fi enough for me. The thrilling side of the film comes from us wondering if the siblings can make it out alive.
Settings – The film is mostly set within the small farm house which shows us the isolation our characters have created away from the problems in this world.
Special Effects – The special effects are only used when needed and that is to look at how invaders are operating from a distance.
Final Thoughts – This is a really promising idea for a film, it hits on many marks but just feels like it needed a couple more pieces to click together for something great.
Overall: Sci-fi fans give this a try.
Rating