Year released: 2016
THE CHARGE: If a shadow falls and no one's around to hear it, does it make a good movie?
THE EVIDENCE: Senka and Jonas are a young couple in the early stages of building a life together when Jonas throws a monkey wrench into their plans by getting himself perished. But Senka won't let him get away that easily. Ignoring the "till death do us part" section of their vows, she makes a Faustian deal with a demon named Amis to bring Jonas back to her. Things then take some very bad turns, because Shadows Fall wouldn't be much of a horror film if everything went smoothly.
As a result of her deal, Senka finds herself a prisoner in her own home, unable to leave lest some undisclosed fate befall her. Amis keeps a constant eye on her, appearing at whim to either taunt Senka or to provide unexpected support, something that occurs more frequently when it becomes evident that he's taken a shine to her. And further complicating things is the fact that every time Jonas leaves for work, someone seems to end up dead.
Shadows Fall marks the feature film debut of director Aditya Vishwanath, who was kind enough to provide me with a screener copy for the purpose of this review, and he provides plenty of style in this indie production from Garaj Pictures. This is no cheesy looking shot-on-video effort. It's a good looking film, with plenty of interplay between light and dark and very professional shadow effects that sometimes double as scene transitions.
One notable scene that made me smile occurs just over halfway through the film, where one continuous camera shot follows Senka through her house as she envisions an incarnation of Jonas in every room. It's well blocked and well executed, and representative of the overall quality of the camerawork. So major kudos go out to Vishwanath and cinematographer Artiom Maksimov for creating artful visuals that go well above what you'd expect from an indie horror production.
Note to self: no more eating chili in bed.
Unfortunately, the acting doesn't quite match the level of the cinematography. Lead actors Dylan Quigg as Senka and Jener Dasilva as Jonas seem rather stilted in their delivery, though I wonder if this may have been a deliberate stylistic choice. After all, Senka is under constant surveillance by a demon, which I imagine would make anyone a bit edgy. And there's no precedent for how someone like Jonas would really act when trying to resume a normal life after being, you know, dead. But I didn't find strong enough chemistry between them to convince me they were a couple who would die (or be reborn) for each other.
The supporting cast fares better, with Christian Wennberg portraying Amis as a suave character who's always honest but never quite gets around to telling you 100% of the truth. Call me crazy, but I got a little bit of a Pierce Brosnan vibe from his performance. And Kinsey Diment's performance as Rain, the vivacious medium-next-door, provides a welcome respite from the gloom that permeates most of the story.
Feeding the ducks. Chilling with demons. Good times.
While the story is a variation of the classic Faustian deal with the devil, it unravels in a fairly unique style. The main story moves forward in time while flashbacks are presented in a bit of a reverse chronology, gradually providing the viewer with bits of back story critical to the plot. This is occasionally interspersed with brief representations of the internal emotional states of the characters, not unlike a technique Oliver Stone used in Natural Born Killers and another interesting style choice on the part of the director.
The film leaves some piecing together of the overall story up to the viewer, which is fine by me. I'm a big boy and I don't need to be spoon-fed every plot point. But as the puzzle pieces all came together, I ultimately walked away feeling like there was one piece missing, something implied but not explicitly stated that would help explain the demon's motivation. It left me feeling like I got a good overall representation of the picture, and I liked what I saw of it, but my OCD keeps my attention focused on that one empty space.
Overall, I found Shadows Fall to be an encouraging debut film by a young director, and I'd be interested to see what he can do with a slightly stronger cast and a tighter story. KEEP SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT CINEMA!
THE VERDICT: Shadows Fall is NOT GUILTY of cinematic graffiti, instead presenting itself as a stylish (if imperfect) mural on the wall of the independent horror genre.
