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The end of the world has happened in one way or another, and has wiped out pretty much all of humankind, only a mother (Saskia Reeves) and her two daughters Alma (Mia Threapleton) and Alex (Lola Petticrew) have survived in an abandoned hotel where they now try to make ends meet - but this is harder than it sounds as these days the sun is deadly to humans, so whatever they do they can only do by night. And mum keeps the girls under a strict regiment, training them in all sorts of hunting and survival while trying to keep them away from anything that might upset them - with the effect that the girls, who are slowly coming of age, feel more and more like prisoners. Alma's the one who at least to try to keep in line, but Alex is the more rebellious of the two, disobeying mother more and more - something Alma usually accepts the blame for, being protective of her little sister. Thing is, mother acts more and more erratic of late, to the point where one might argue she endangers the children rather than protecting them. This makes Alex decide to run away and see if pockets of humankind can be found elsewhere, and as unsure as she is about this, Alma just tags along. Thing is, the girls get separated, and eventually, Alma falls down a ravine and passes out in broad daylight, which surprisingly doesn't kill her. Instead she wakes up back in the hotel, with mother tending to her wounds. But the way mother acts now makes Alma mighty suspicious, and also the fact that she's not more worried about the whereabouts of Alex ... as well as the fact that Alma must have been exposed to the sunlight for several hours without getting the slightest of burn. So Alma makes up a plan for her own escape, with much better preparation than Alex's hasty getaway ...

Now admittedly, Shadows has a bit of a slow beginning - but it uses its relative lack of pace very wisely to build up a world all of its own, a world that might have many holes, metaphorically speaking, but that all starts to make more and more sense the closer we get to the finale, and the journey there sure is a fascinating one, especially since the screenplay manages to keep the film's basic mystery up throughout, something that's mirrored in the directorial effort that never shows more than absolutely necessary and still brings everything across beautifully. And the three actresses really find into their roles, create a wonderful chemistry between themselves, and really carry the movie - and all of this makes this a very unusual but all the more fascinating genre effort.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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