
Hot Picks 
- 7x7 2023
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Shadows
Italy / Ireland 2020
produced by Andrea Paris, Matteo Rovere, Daniele Gentili (executive), Jane Doolan (executive), Daniele Beni (supervising) for Ascent Film, RAI (RAI Cinema), Feline Films
directed by Carlo Lavagna
starring Mia Threapleton, Lola Petticrew, Saskia Reeves, Luke Harmon, Julia Dillon
written by Damiano Bruè, Fabio Mollo, Vanessa Picciarelli, Tiziana Triana, music by Michele Braga, drawings by Alessandro Cicoria
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD ! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility !!!
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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.
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