Movies
[Fantastic Fest Review] Netflix’s ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ Tries to Be Too Many Things at Once
Editor’s Note: It is nearly impossible to discuss In the Shadow of the Moon without discussing its basic premise. This may constitute as a spoiler for some readers so proceed ahead at your own risk.
Director Jim Mickle has made a name for himself directing low-budget horror fare like Stake Land and 2013’s remake of We Are What We Are, but he hasn’t made a film since 2014’s crime thriller Cold in July due to his commitments to SundanceTV’s Hap & Leonard. He returns to us this year via Netflix’s silly science fiction time-traveling murder mystery thriller In the Shadow of the Moon. If that sounds like a mouthful, it’s because it is. The film tries to be so many things at once that it winds up buckling under its own weight, but that doesn’t mean that the journey isn’t somewhat enjoyable. For its first half, it’s actually an intriguing little thriller, despite the shortcomings of its cast.
Following a prologue that shows the repercussions of a civil war in 2024, In the Shadow of the Moon travels back to 1988 as Officers Locke (Boyd Holbrook) and Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine) are called to the scene of a gruesome crime. Several more corpses pop up around the city and all of them suffer from the same cause of death: bleeding out from every orifice before their brains liquefy. Working with his brother-in-law (and fellow officer) Holt (Michael C. Hall, Dexter), the men eventually track down the murderer (Cleopatra Coleman, TV’s The Last Man on Earth) before she falls in front of an incoming subway.
Flash-forward nine years to 1997 and the murders start happening again. Locke and Maddox are thrust into a game of cat and mouse with the killer, who seems to be the exact same person that died nine years earlier.
To say anything more would spoil most of In the Shadow of the Moon‘s surprises, but rest assured that the above plot summary only covers about 30 of the film’s 115 minutes. And what a long 115 minutes it is. Spanning across several decades, the film’s sluggish pacing means that it often feels as long as the time frame it takes place during. Jeff Grace’s bombastic score attempts to add suspense to the proceedings, but it’s no match for a weak script, which was co-written by Gregory Weidman and Geoffrey Tock (both of whom wrote for TV’s Zoo and Limitless).
In the Shadow of the Moon sees Mickle working with a bigger budget than what he’s normally used to and he puts it to good use. The film looks great, seeing Mickle use cinematographer David Lanzenberg to the best of his abilities. The death sequences (of which there are quite a few) are appropriately nasty, especially those in the opening sequence.
As with many a time travel movie, the plot does not hold up under scrutiny. The reasoning behind the murders is convoluted enough, but one particular third act revelation retroactively creates a gaping plot hole in the film’s first act. But hey, why bother to think so much about it when the film didn’t do the same? Not only does this revelation not work from a logical standpoint, but it misses the mark emotionally too. Locke’s self-destructive behavior is so off-putting to the point that he doesn’t inspire empathy or sympathy. Because of this, the climactic emotional beats ring false.
The performances are hit and miss. Rachel Keller (TV’s Legion) does what she can with a throwaway role as Locke’s wife, but Coleman does some strong work as the mysterious villain. She isn’t given much to work with since the film keeps her too mysterious, but she exudes the appropriate amount of menace needed to keep viewers invested in the plot. Unfortunately, Neither Hall nor Holbrook are doing their best work, with Hall dropping in and out of a Southern(?) accent and Holbrook doing everything he can to suck the charisma out of every scene he is in. Locke is already a poorly-written character, but Holbrook is unable to inject him with any sort of personality.
In the Shadow of the Moon is far from a failure, but it is painfully mediocre. It features some excellent production design and has a great concept that is let down by a weak script. Mickle doesn’t bungle the execution, but the screenplay and his lead actors do him a disservice. This seems to be par for the course with Netflix’s film library, which pales in comparison to their television offerings.
In the Shadow of the Moon had its World Premiere at Fantastic Fest and will be released by Netflix on September 27.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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