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Shadow in the Cloud

Tyler Harlow

Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Beulah Koale, Taylor John Smith, Callan Mulvey, Benedict Wall, Byron Coll, Joe Witkowski.


Director: Roseanne Liang


Women's Auxiliary Force pilot Maude Garrett (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a last minute addition to board the B-17 Fool's Errand, carrying an important top secret package with orders not to open it. While the crew don't take well to her presence, she is nonetheless cleared to join them and is told to stay in the Sperry turret gun until they are airborne. While in the turret (and in between cat calls from the male soldiers on board) she not only sees a potential threat from a low flying Japanese surveillance place, but she also notices she isn't the only unexpected passenger on this flight. Tagging along and causing havoc is a gremlin, intent on bringing the flight down. As things get more and dangerous and it is discovered Maude may not be who she says she is, Maude and the crew find themselves in a fight for survival while Maude protects the package at all costs.


What a bonkers movie, and I mean that with the utmost respect. I don't know if I liked the movie but despite it's flaws (and there are plenty) I was entertained the whole way through.


Clocking in at an hour and fifteen minutes not including credits, the movie really moves and wastes no time stepping into its Twilight Zone-esque premise. I really dig these kind of movies and for the first thirty minutes or so, the movie delivered exactly what I was hoping for. Focused squarely on Maude stuck in the turret, we not only hear the sexist jabs from the male soldiers and see her reaction to them but also experience her horror as she not only discovers the impending aerial enemy threat but the gremlin as well. This all is sold well thanks to Moretz's performance, decent special effects, solid direction from Director Roseanne Liang, and an awesome synth score.


I never thought I'd say this about a movie featuring a gremlin attacking a plane during WW2, but I found it harder to suspend my disbelief as the movie progressed. And it's not even because of the gremlin! Once it is revealed who Maude is and what she is carrying with her, the movie goes careening off the rails. I won't spoil it here but it's a bizarre twist that shoves the movie into almost laughable territory that at one point sees Moretz climbing the bottom of the still airborne plane without any sort of reinforcement, to save the package from the gremlin.


Despite being the only female character in the film, its Moretz's show and she effortlessly carries the film despite how ludicrous it ultimately grows. The male characters, made up of some talented character actors, are mostly left as voices over the radio and only appear on screen at the beginning and ending of the film. They more or less are there to serve as the bad guys until the gremlin shows up and we don't really get to or want to know them.


I really wanted to like this more than I did. The film ultimately did what it set out to do despite having many issues: entertain.


Grade: C


Shadow in the Cloud is available on VOD

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