Shadows is an Irish-Italian post-apocalyptic thriller which features only the three characters. Directed by Carlo Lavagna (Arianna), this slow-burn builds up for an interesting character piece whose twists may be predictable, but still remains mostly intriguing. It also does something interesting by flipping the 'bad things happen in the dark' trope on its head.
Teenagers Alma (Mia Threapleton) and her younger sister Alex (Lola Petticrew) live in a remote hotel in the middle of a forest with their domineering mother (Saskia Reeves - Slow Horses TV series, Luther TV series). At some point in the past the world fell into ruin, with nature reclaiming the cities, and the sun becoming so dangerous that to go outside in daylight would be lethal. The hotel and it's surrounding trees are all the two girls have ever known. It has reached a point where the two siblings have begun to fight back against their mother's strict rules, and with her increasingly erratic behaviour, they begin to think that maybe they would be better off leaving, with the hope that they may discover other survivors of this post apocalyptic world.
With just the three characters this was never going to be a thrill ride. Instead, over the course of roughly a hundred minutes the focus is on the deteriorating relationship between the three. By wanting to protect her girls from the dangers of the world, the mother has caused an increasing rebellious streak in Alex, not helped by her behaviour, with possible signs of early onset dementia in the woman. Alma is split, believing her mother's intentions to be good, but not able to bear being split up from her sister. The film as a whole felt it was a metaphor for growing up, with the setting of the remote warren-like hotel, it came to feel like it was one big nest which the sisters had outgrown. The question becomes if it is better to stay somewhere safe and secure, or to take a risk into the unknown. The three actors all do good jobs, I sometimes felt the more dramatic moments of high energy didn't quite feel as good as the more downbeat introspective moments, but I was hooked for the journey. With the mother you have a presence who haunts every scene, even when she is not around, the two siblings remain terrified of doing anything to upset her, at least with Alma. This makes tense scenes where they go into areas of the hotel they have been told not to visit all the more thrilling. With secret peep-holes hidden around the building, and a reluctance from the mother to speak the full truth at any point, there is a growing sense of unease with her.
It isn't a rare thing to have a post-apocalyptic thriller with a small cast, it lends itself well to the genre, as can be seen with other indie films of this type such as A Knight's Tour and Creature in the Dark, this one felt a little different due to reversing the flow. The characters only head out at night, and seem at ease in the darkness, perversely it is daylight that creates the fear. Alma in particular is terrified of day, leading to some effective scenes where she has full on panic attacks whenever she encounters sunlight. It creates some great scenes that stick out more due to taking place in brightness, when the majority of the film is so dull. I would say that I guessed the film's biggest twist very early on, it has gotten to a stage where there are so many films doing a similar thing that there is no longer an element of surprise. As to the film's second twist, I also figured that one out relatively early. Regardless of that however, I was still interested to see how this would be revealed, and it was handled well, using the adage of sometimes less being more.
I think for me, Shadows was slightly overlong for the story it told. There were parts in the middle that felt a little slow. Visually this was a winner, the hotel had great set design to it, from the sisters bedroom, to the isolated makeshift shower set-up, and the post-apocalyptic clothing choices were another highlight. I also enjoyed the way the actors played off each other, Alma and Alex felt believable as sisters, while Reeves also shined. While it may have dragged ever so slightly, I was happy enough with it overall to sit through the end credits reflecting on the story I had just seen being told. Shadows has its VOD North American debut on November 15th.
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