In the Shadow of the Moon (2019) Review!!

Synopsis – A Philadelphia police officer struggles with a lifelong obsession to track down a mysterious serial killer whose crimes defy explanation.

My Take – Have you ever seen a film that has rolled almost every genre into it? Well this one does! This Netflix original is a frenetic mash-up that contains drama, mystery, horror and action, all layered with familiar elements of sci-fi.

As original science fictions films continues to fail at the domestic box office and fade from theaters, over the last few years, Netflix has taken upon itself to produce/acquire titles like The Cloverfield Paradox, Mute, Bright, Bird Box, Tau, IO, The Titan, Extinction, See You Yesterday, How It Ends, Rim of the World, Spectral, Annihilation, Okja, What Happened to Monday, and A.R.Q.

With a few exceptions, these dreary dystopian parables and wannabe mind-benders are often middling, mostly ponderous, benignly watchable, populated with familiar faces and passable special effects, but most of all, they lack ambition. However, with this film the streaming company sought to fix both of those problems by first bringing in famed and beloved genre director Jim Mickle (Cold in July) to helm the newest science fiction venture.

And the end result is an ambitious, sometimes ridiculous film that has enough mystery and excitement to keep you hooked until the end credits roll in. While the film has some problems it means well. It assumes the audience will be smart enough to follow the relatively complex plot. It also adds an emotional and thrilling twist to the time-travel genre, one that focuses on character and world building.

Though the ending can be considered as debatable, it’s hard not to appreciate how the film rides on a wave of goofiness mixed with its earnestness.

Set in 1988, the story follows Thomas Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook), a Philadelphia beat cop who dreams of becoming a hotshot detective like his brother in law Holt (Michael C. Hall), however is stuck working the graveyard shift with his partner, Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine), much to the dismay of his pregnant wife (Rachel Keller).

One wild night, Lockhart gets caught up in an extremely perplexing mystery: several people in various parts of the city inexplicably drop dead from internal hemorrhaging, seemingly caused by three tiny puncture wounds in the back of their necks. While they begin formulating how these crimes may have taken place, a suspect is soon identified in the form of young woman (Cleopatra Coleman), who has no records.

While Lockhart eventually catches up with the woman after a thrilling chase, but before he can get any answers, the suspect is obliterated by a subway train. Hereby closing the case, leading to promotions for Lockhart, Holt and Maddox. But nine years later, the mystery woman is somehow back, alive, well and killing again.

This unexplained resurrection sends Lockhart off the deep end, and it doesn’t take him very long before he develops a wild theory about what’s going on here. Lockhart’s deduction understandably makes everyone around him think he’s gone completely insane, but he refuses to let up. And every nine years, the killer returns, and Lockhart is up for another chase.

Like I mentioned above, the film is wildly ambitious. It takes big, risky swings. Though it has an original script by writers Gregory Weidman and Geoff Tock, the story feels like it was adapted from a knotty and complicated novel. Imagine a Philadelphia-set True Detective meets The Terminator, and you’ll get a decent sense of what it’s going for. Here, director Jim Mickle, the filmmaker behind a few exceedingly impressive indie flicks excels at crashing the genres together. He’s working with a much bigger budget than usual, and it shows – there are numerous car chases which seem genuinely dangerous and real.

With every time jump, director Jim Mickle’s style changes to fit the era being depicted. The cold blues of the ’80s give way to warm colors in the ’90s and David Fincher’s Seven-inspired camerawork and pacing. The 2006-set scenes pop with Michael Bay’s lens flares. His direction also shines when he focuses in on the more horror-tinged elements – there are many, many shots of gory dead bodies here.

Without a doubt, Jim Mickle is confident in his direction and with the genre. He knows what he is doing and has never been shy about using political allegory. This film is no different. The film leans into a modern political sensibility that becomes as much about the current state of politics as it does about understanding the nuance of time travel.

The murderer, a woman of color, wearing a hoodie, is hunted by two white cops in the middle of an urban environment. Though the loopy time travel and mystery surrounding the murders are the hook, what keeps it all together is Holbrook‘s Lockhart. He nails the balance between obsessing over the truth behind these murders and the grief and loss of sanity that ensures from that obsession.

As the film keeps jumping forward in time, we see Lockhart not only aging, but physically and emotionally deteriorating, with a big emphasis on his relationship with his daughter Amy (Quincy Kirkwood and Sarah Dugdale) and brother-in-law Holt and how it falls apart through the years.

However, the problem with most time-travel logic is lack of understanding of how the science would work, and an over-reliance on a suspension of disbelief. Here, the film clearly aspires to be the next Looper, but the more we find out about the world, the more holes the script pokes in itself.

Most importantly, you’ll probably guess who the time-traveling woman in the blue hooded jacket is before she explains it. She hints at her true intentions in her first confrontation with Lockhart. But director Mickle and the film’s screenwriters hold back the inevitable reveal for so long, aiming for a Zodiac-like scope and asking the viewer to be invested in Lockhart’s personal journey, as a result the final exposition ends up feeling a bit bland.

Performance wise, everyone is quite good. Boyd Holbrook is one of those actors that has been in some really good supporting roles and I have been wait for him to really let it fly in a lead role. He nails it here as a man whose life is slowly unraveling as the drive to solve a case alienates everyone around him. Michael C. Hall brings a gravitas to his role as the older more mature Holt while never letting his role as the dick define his character entirely.

Cleopatra Coleman as the murdering Jane Doe who brings immediate physicality to the role and I instantly want to see her in more things. In supporting roles, Bokeem Woodbine, Rachel Keller and Rudi Dharmalingam also leave a mark. On the whole, ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ is an intriguing sci fi film which despite being flawed is concealed by its fascinating premise and performances.