Shadow in the Cloud: Thrilling genre mashup – Newnan Times-Herald

Like this years much-loved Promising Young Woman, written and directed by Emerald Fennell, Cloud uses edgy action elements colorfully while never forgetting grounded reality.

Review by Jonathan W. Hickman

Like Promising Young Woman, Shadow in the Cloud is one of the most audacious films of 2020. Sure, its a WWII set horror/action film in which a B-17 Flying Fortress is attacked in the air by a vicious, bat-like creature hell-bent on taking the plane down. But the film also serves up some subversive, acerbic social commentary.

Cloud has flight officer Maude Garrett (Chlo Grace Moretz) boarding a B-17 in the middle of the night guarding a mysterious, top-secret package. Once onboard, the all-male crew, shocked that a woman has joined them, forces her into the gun turret on the bottom of the plane. Before going into the turret, Maude entrusts her package to one of the soldiers. And when the turret hatch gets stuck, Maude is trapped below, where she notices a dark beast crawling around the hull.

Maude must convince her dismissive fellow passengers of the monsters existence and reclaim possession of her top-secret cargo. To make matters worse, Japanese planes threaten to shoot the B-17 out of the sky.

New Zealand-born Chinese director and co-writer Roseanne Liang uses the films fantastic genre foundation to build a story of female empowerment. In Maude, she finds a strong, resourceful woman that must not only battle supernatural forces but crushing real-world inequalities, as well.

And precisely because Shadow in the Cloud is such a thrilling escape, Liang manages to insert some subtle and not so subtle comments about what it is to be a woman in a patriarchal society. Like this years much-loved Promising Young Woman, written and directed by Emerald Fennell, Cloud uses edgy action elements colorfully while never forgetting grounded reality.

Consider that in WWII, there were more than 1000 female pilots. Many of the women flew ferrying missions, a fact mentioned in Cloud. And those missions were an integral part of the war effort.

By casting Moretz as the films hero, Liang knew that she was getting a powerful performer known for her acting and karate chops. After all, Moretz made her big splash by playing Hit-Girl in Matthew Vaughns terrifically entertaining Kick-Ass. But in Cloud, Moretz is center-stage, expected to do more than punch, kick, and shoot. Maude is a symbol of all those fighting women of the day. And Moretz plays her with a concerted intensity that glows brightly as the film reaches its wild concluding act.

To be sure, Shadow in the Cloud is often an indulgent fantasy. The 1943 setting is mixed with a hybrid of 1980s pumping, synth music as part of a busy modern score. But Maudes fight to save her mysterious package is a metaphor for the struggle women endure across the ages. Its fitting that as the sequences become more and more bonkers, the only one among the crew that keeps her cool is Maude. And as we eventually learn, shes got more than herself riding on the mission.

Aside from the social commentary, Cloud is a darned entertaining action/horror movie. The B-17 makes a perfect claustrophobic set-piece, especially when its flying recklessly through enemy airspace. At one point, Maude crawls around on the outside of the plane to retrieve her precious package. The whole time shes trading blows with a menacing, winged demon thats right out of a nightmare. Its thrilling stuff!

The closing credits pay tribute to women pilots and mechanics during WWII. A fascinating, celebratory montage of archived footage shows us the real fly girls of the day. Were reminded that all of us won the war. Our cooperation, regardless of gender, was and still is our biggest strength.

A RottenTomatoes.com Tomatometer-approved critic, Jonathan W. Hickman is also an entertainment lawyer, college professor, novelist, and filmmaker. Hes a member of the Atlanta Film Critics Circle, The Southeastern Film Critics Association, and the Georgia Film Critics Association. For more information about Jonathan visit: FilmProductionLaw.com or DailyFIlmFix.com

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Shadow in the Cloud: Thrilling genre mashup - Newnan Times-Herald