Shadows Fall (2016)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Dylan Quigg, Jener DaSilva, Christian Wennberg
Directed by Aditya Vishwanath
If the opportunity could be presented to you to have more time with a loved one that had passed, would you jump at the chance to make it happen? What if when that person came back into your life, something was simply not right with them? Would it still be enough to have them by your side once again, regardless of what the implications might be? Director Aditya Vishwanath raises quite the interesting question with the film, Shadows Fall, and at the risk of (yet again) sounding like a heartless bastard, I’d take a pass on a dearly departed soul returning just to make me happier…I believe Fred Gwynne said it best in Pet Sematary: “sometimes, dead is better.”
The premise here is rather simple, yet the impending result is one that can be debated til the cows (or a former loved one) comes home: a grieving widow named Senka (Quigg) makes a deal with a suave demon (Wennberg) about allowing her recently deceased husband, Jonas (DaSilva) to return to her. The price for this to occur is a steep one, yet she goes through with the agreement, and sooner than later, her hubby is back among the living…yet, something’s not right with this situation. Senka’s initial elation at the notion of her spouse returning to her quickly turns to worry, and ultimately regret, as Jonas is now one truly dark soul, and their once happy home has undergone a bit of a supernatural shift towards the evil side of things – it’s safe to say that the happy marriage is indeed, over.
If it’s straight-up horror that you’re looking for with this one, then I’m sorry to break the news to you: the chance for chills is at somewhat of a premium, but that certainly doesn’t detract from the insanely haunting quality that this film possesses. It’s so much more than a tale of lost love and regrettable decisions, it’s the backstory of the tragic couple, and the surprises that unfold after all is said and done – really a complete psychological drama/thriller with a dark horror undertone. When you speak of performances here, the main three consisting of Quigg, DaSilva, and Wennberg as the demon are purely golden. All three offer up heartfelt portrayals of those who’ve loved, lost, deceived and regained under compulsive choices, and Vishwanath drains every ounce of feeling from his actors in order to convey this story – stellar choices all around. There has been a spate of recent films that I’ve been graced to review containing characters that frankly didn’t have much of a pulse, let alone a backstory, but that’s not the case here, and it just makes a good film teeter on the “great” borderline. Want to introduce your new lady-friend to the world of horror, but want to break her in gently with a tale that will surely make her weep? Feel free to unleash Shadows Fall upon her, and she’ll think you’re a swell guy forever.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
