Shadow in the Cloud

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Shadow in the Cloud
Shadow in the Cloud.png
Official poster
Directed byRoseanne Liang
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyKit Fraser
Edited byTom Eagles
Music byMahuia Bridgman-Cooper
Production
companies
  • Automatik Entertainment
  • Four Knights Film
  • Endeavor Content
  • Rhea Films
  • New Zealand Film Commission
  • Fulcrum Media Finance
  • Screen Auckland
Distributed by
Release date
  • September 12, 2020 (2020-09-12) (TIFF)
  • January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01) (United States)
Running time
83 minutes[2]
Countries
  • United States
  • New Zealand
LanguageEnglish
Box office$908,792[1][3]

Shadow in the Cloud is a 2020 action horror film directed by Roseanne Liang, from a screenplay by Liang and Max Landis,[4] starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Taylor John Smith, Nick Robinson, Beulah Koale and Callan Mulvey. It follows a female flight officer on a top-secret mission during the Second World War on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress while encountering an evil gremlin on board.

It premiered on September 12, 2020 at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness.[5] It was released on January 1, 2021 by Vertical Entertainment and Redbox Entertainment.

Plot[]

In August 1943, Pilot Officer Maude Garrett, a female flight officer, is assigned to travel with a top secret package from Auckland, New Zealand, to Samoa. When she arrives at the airbase, she sees a ground crew ramp worker disappear before her eyes—just before suddenly finding herself standing right in front of her transport, a B-17 bomber called The Fool's Errand. The bomber's crew gives her a mostly derisive welcome and she is quartered in the Sperry Ball turret for the takeoff. With no room left for her document valise, she reluctantly allows the only crew member friendly to her, Staff Sergeant Walter Quaid, to store it.

While stuck in the turret, Maude sees some sort of creature clinging to the underside of the bomber's wing. She reports it, but most of the crew—except Private Beckell, who sees it too—dismisses her. When she is allowed to leave the turret, the hatch malfunctions, trapping her inside. When she reacts indignantly to the crew's comments about her situation, they abandon their attempts to open the hatch and the comm is cut off. After seeing a Japanese fighter appearing and disappearing close to the bomber, she is abruptly attacked by the creature, a gremlin; she fights it off but ends up injured. When the crew contacts her again to ask what happened, a radio message comes in telling them that a Maude Garrett doesn't exist and is not registered for the flight. When they intend to take her out for questioning, Maude deliberately jams the turret's gears and prepares to defend herself when the Japanese aircraft reappears and attacks. Taking control of the turret, she shoots it down, winning the crew's grudging respect.

While continuing to talk with the crew, Maude admits she is actually married and boarded the bomber under her maiden name, but refuses to reveal her mission, citing its secrecy. Then she sees the gremlin again as it continues to sabotage the bomber. Eventually Private Dorn sights it too, but the others disregard him. Suspecting Maude's assignment is the cause of their misfortunes, Reeves gives the order to open the bag, which contains a baby—Maude's and Quaid's extramarital child. Forced to confess, Maude explains that she was severely mistreated by her husband; she has an affair with Quaid and inadvertently got pregnant. Someone betrayed her to her husband, who came to the base. Deciding not to tell Quaid, Maude faked her assignment to get away from her husband, who she says would have killed her in his rage.

Just as Captain Reeves turns back to the airbase, three Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters attack and the gremlin boards the bomber, injures Quaid and kidnaps the baby. When the gremlin appears before her with the baby in the bag, Maude exits the turret and fires her handgun at it, driving it off but leaving the bag hanging precariously from the engine nacelle. Risking a perilous climb, Maude retrieves her child and reboards the aircraft through the opening for the ball turret, which has been shot off. The gremlin attacks again, throwing Technical Sergeant Taggart out of the aircraft before Maude can evict it. When Reeves, Lieutenant Finch and Dorn are killed by Japanese gunfire, Maude takes command and brings the bomber roughly but safely down to the ground. The gremlin reappears and tries to snatch the baby once more but Maude catches up and finally kills it. She and the other survivors watch as The Fool's Errand burns and explodes.

Cast[]

  • Chloë Grace Moretz as Flying Officer Maude Garrett/Johnson
  • Taylor John Smith as Staff Sergeant Walter Quaid, top turret gunner
  • Beulah Koale as RNZAF Flight Lieutenant Anton Williams, the bomber's co-pilot
  • Nick Robinson as Private Stu Beckell, tail gunner
  • Callan Mulvey as Captain John Reeves, the bomber's pilot
  • Benedict Wall as Private Tommy Dorn
  • Joe Witkowski as Lieutenant Bradley Finch, navigator
  • Byron Coll as Technical Sergeant Terrence Taggart, radio operator

Production[]

In January 2019, it was announced that Chloë Grace Moretz had joined the cast, with Roseanne Liang directing from a screenplay by Max Landis. Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Fred Berger, Kelly McCormick and Tom Hern would serve as producers under their Automatik Entertainment and Four Knights Film banner, respectively.[6] In April 2019, Moretz announced the script had been rewritten several times following Landis's sexual assault allegations.[7] Landis was also removed as a producer, with Liang rewriting the film. Due to Writers Guild of America rules, Landis receives credit for the script.[8][9][10] That month, Nick Robinson joined the cast.[11]

During development, Liang turned to films with one character set in one location for inspiration, such as Aliens (1986) and Locke (2013).[12]

Principal photography began in June 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand.[13]

In a prologue to Shadow in the Cloud, an animated training film from the United States Army Air Forces depicts the havoc a gremlin can produce for the unwary or complacent airman during wartime. When the film continues, the gremlin—a metaphor for problems caused by inattention and/or negligence—is depicted as a living, malevolent creature.[14] During the end credits, archival footage is shown of women serving in the British and American air forces in the Second World War.

Release[]

Shadow in the Cloud had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2020.[15] Shortly after, Vertical Entertainment and Redbox Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film.[16] Shadow in the Cloud was released in the United States on January 1, 2021, although the release was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17]

Reception[]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of 112 critics gave Shadow in the Cloud a positive review, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Part creature feature, part war movie, and part social commentary, Shadow in the Cloud doesn't always blend its ingredients evenly—but it's frequently pulpy fun."[18] According to Metacritic, which assigned Shadow in the Cloud a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 19 critics, having received "generally favorable reviews".[19]

Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com wrote that Shadow in the Cloud was "a sincere but silly mash-up of WWII dogfights, gremlin chaos, and feminism in action," and gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars.[20]

Awards and honours[]

Shadow in the Cloud received a Grolsch People's Choice Award for Director Roseanne Liang in the "Midnight Madness" session in the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. Liang also won the "Director to Watch" award at the 2021 Palm Springs International Film Festival.[21]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Shadow in the Cloud (2020)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Shadow in the Cloud". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  3. ^ "Shadow in the Cloud". The Numbers. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  4. ^ Girish, Devika (31 December 2020). "'Shadow in the Cloud' Review: There's Mischief in the Air". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 March 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  5. ^ Vlessing, Etan (20 September 2020). "Toronto: Chloe Zhao's 'Nomadland' Wins Audience Award". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  6. ^ McNary, Dave (January 30, 2019). "Chloe Grace Moretz to Star in Horror Movie 'Shadow in the Cloud'". Variety. Archived from the original on July 6, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  7. ^ Pechman, Alexandra (April 19, 2019). "Chloë Grace Moretz: 'People said: You're going to lose your career over this'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 4, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  8. ^ Maddus, Gene (June 18, 2019). "Max Landis Accused of Rape, Assault and Psychological Abuse". Variety. Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  9. ^ Zimmerman, Amy (June 18, 2019). "Eight Women Accuse Hollywood Filmmaker Max Landis of Emotional and Sexual Abuse: 'We're Not People to Him'". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on June 18, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  10. ^ Donaldson, Kayleigh (September 16, 2020). "Max Landis Is Back With 'Shadow In The Cloud'". Pajiba.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  11. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (April 5, 2019). "Interview: Margaret Qualley and Nick Robinson Discuss 'Native Son'". Awards Daily. Archived from the original on July 4, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  12. ^ "The Package". Letterboxd News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-07. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  13. ^ "Chloe Gracë Moretz films a brutal fight scene for new movie Shadow in the Cloud in Auckland". Newtolove.com.nz. June 28, 2019. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  14. ^ "Walt Disney Goes to War". Life. August 31, 1942. p. 61. Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  15. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (July 30, 2020). "Toronto Sets 2020 Lineup: Werner Herzog, Regina King, Mira Nair, Francois Ozon, Naomi Kawase Titles Join Hybrid Edition". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  16. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 17, 2020). "Vertical Entertainment & Redbox Land North American Rights Deal On Toronto Midnight Madness Title 'Shadow In The Cloud'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  17. ^ Nolfi, Joey (December 10, 2020). "World War II demons hunt Chloë Grace Moretz in first Shadow in the Cloud trailer". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  18. ^ "Shadow in the Cloud (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  19. ^ "Shadow in the Cloud Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  20. ^ Allen, Nick (December 31, 2020). "Shadow in the Cloud movie review (2020)". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-23. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  21. ^ "Shadow in the Cloud: Awards". IMDb. Retrieved: July 19, 2021.

External links[]

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