TIFF 2020 film review: 'Shadow in the Cloud'
(Image courtesy of TIFF)
The claustrophobic, rollicking action-thriller 'Shadow in the Cloud' (screening at the 45th Toronto International Film Festival) combines the frantic horror of "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" with the mayhem of a World War II-era dog fight gone wrong.
In short: Set during World War II, WAAF officer Maude Garrett (Chloë Grace Moretz) boards a B-17 Flying Fortress carrying top secret cargo - not knowing an evil presence is also on-board the flight. Nick Robinson, Taylor John Smith and Callan Mulvey also star.
From the film's opening moments, 'Shadow' takes a firm grip on the audience and doesn't let go for 90 white-knuckle minutes. From the outset Garrett thinks she's just hitching a ride on a straightforward flight from one airbase to another. And even if nothing else crazy happened on this routine flight, the overt chauvinism Garrett endures would itself be a monster worth slaying. She walks aboard the plane with signed orders from a top officer - yet no matter how qualified or experienced Garret is, she's immediately ignored, objectified and harassed without hesitation or remorse.
Yet, being trapped on a plane with airmen who might actually sexually assault her isn't even the biggest threat imperiling Garrett - because once 'Shadow' establishes that she cannot trust her fellow airmen, the movie goes next-level bonkers and never lets up. Just go into 'Shadow' knowing the first 30 minutes is a confined suspense drama that almost entirely takes place with Garrett cramped into a small space, talking to her misogynistic compatriots via radio. The camera rarely cuts away from her face and the focus never leaves her perspective.
If the film starts out as taut drama between a woman and the gross men who don't trust her, then it quickly becomes something else entirely - entering some mash-up between action-war movie and monster-horror flick. The rest of the movie only works because every moment of the slow build-up establishes officer Garrett as a quick-witted, intelligent and focused woman on a mission. Garrett is a bona fide bad-ass hellbent on protecting her parcel - and the script legitimizes her resourcefulness from the movie's very opening shots.
Admittedly, 'Shadow' is more substantial in its front half, with the back-half becoming much more of a high-concept action flick. But this works because the first act is pure, unrestrained toxic masculinity dismissing everything Garrett says, does or is - she's ignored, she's ridiculed and she's brushed off as some 'dame.' The second half is Garrett proving she's a decisive and focused bad ass - and it's the men who prove all but completely useless as their situation spirals wildly out of control.
The best part: 'Shadow' is less than an hour and a half - and does not waste a single frame. It begins with intrigue, evolves into paranoia and explodes into an absurd action movie. 'Shadow' relentlessly throws Garrett into one impossible situation after another.
Final verdict: Lean and ruthlessly efficient, 'Shadow' is a non-stop pressure cooker that's way more fun than most film festival fare and more thoughtful than most action flicks.
Score: 4/5
'Shadow in the Cloud' screens during TIFF 2020. This documentary is rated R for language throughout, sexual references and violence and has a running time of 83 minutes.
