Directed by Michael Peterson and written by Tim Cairo, while performing an unauthorized exorcism on his father, an elite exorcist suspects the entity he’s doing battle with might be a holy being – perhaps even God. Starring: Mark O’Brien, Jacqueline Byers, Shaun Johnston, Adrian Hough, Josh Cruddas and Barb Mitchell.
One of the biggest issues that can plague a film like Shadow of God is not knowing where to draw the line with its mystery, how much to give audiences and how much to let them use their imagination for. Tim Cairo attempts to give viewers far too much, leading to no imagination being required. The writing feels confused as to what it wants to achieve, and it never finds its groove with a particular tone and struggles to give you something to invest in.
You can feel as it moves forward that it’s trying to create a conspiracy of epic proportions with apocalyptic consequences, and it simply doesn’t have the skills to pull off that kind of scale and weight. So, instead what we actually end up with is a highly convoluted story that’s difficult to keep track of because you’ll likely have forgotten what was or is happening because none of it really sticks.
Battling against those obstacles, the direction can only add so much. Michael Peterson does try to throw in a few creative choices, playing around with reality and his use of colour. However, it feels like scenes draw themselves out too far and there’s a lot of subpar effects work on display. It never quite establishes its atmosphere, it’s throwing so much at you and pulling itself in all different directions that it doesn’t decide what note it wants to play. There’s not that much fear, there aren’t really any scares, it does use violence but as it’s so intrinsically linked to the religious side of things, it’s not very effective and can be slightly awkward.
The only element really holding its own is the performances, there’s a good cast at work here. Mark O’Brien was a solid choice for the lead, he fits that young priest look really well. He does a good job of portraying a background of trauma, as well as being frightful of the possibilities of exorcism if he lets himself be vulnerable. This performance could have been great if it had the rest of the film to back him up. Adrian Hough was another strong piece of casting, he can effortlessly pull off that creepy edge and fanatic presence. Jacqueline Byers was also a good addition to try and add a grounded quality to offset the sinister side.
Shadow of God feels like it’s unaware of how confusing and messy its story is. It starts out on the right foot but quickly falls apart, trying to do too much and ends up doing very little, making it struggle to hold your attention. The directorial style is of a mixed success and hampered by some disappointing effects work. The performances do try to elevate things, it’s a strong cast and they’re solid throughout but sadly, they can only do so much when the other elements of the film are holding them back.
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