In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)

 In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)

 

6/10

 

Starring

Boyd Holbrook

Cleopatra Coleman

Michael C. Hall

 

Directed by Jim Mickle

In the Shadow of the Moon is one of those movies that delivers the needed suspense in the form of a crime thriller, wrapped in a sci-fi element. The acting in the movie is good enough to keep you glued, and the writing is well-crafted to make you invested in the pending outcome of how everything will connect. There's not much to expect in terms of visual effects because the movie didn't need them, but a good ending to a wonderful journey is what the movie needed and lacked.

The writers gave us a less-than-okay ending to the chase between an officer and a murderer spanning the years of 1988 to 2015. Even though the discovery of what was happening and why was enlightening, it felt like justice wasn’t done to a perfectly scripted movie from the start. The way the officer (or former officer) was able to connect everything might have seemed like a nice way to end the movie for the director and writers, but allowing him to discover it on his own would have been better.

He was a detective chasing a killer to understand why this person was coming back every nine years to kill, but in the end, the reason was just handed to him—rather than him actually doing some detecting and discovering it for himself.

The movie plot starts by dropping a few clues that you’ll need to pick up as it develops. We meet an officer named Thomas and his partner, Maddox, as they investigate a series of deaths in their area. Thomas discovers three puncture wounds on the back of one of the victims, which helps the detectives (one of whom is his brother-in-law) link the cases together.

Soon, they track one victim who has yet to die from the puncture wounds. Thomas and Maddox are lucky to run into the killer based on a description from the then-living victim. After an unfortunate chase, the case is closed, and it’s believed that the killer was stopped—only for the killings to start again nine years later. The police believe it's a copycat, but Thomas (now a detective) is sure it's the same person. He tracks the killer down, leading to a series of events where the killer escapes.

Thomas soon discovers a pattern, and the chase consumes his life. He loses his job and contact with people close to him because of his obsession with stopping the killings, even though everyone tells him to let it go.

I liked the movie, enjoyed the setting, and appreciated the idea. It’s a movie you’ll enjoy when you get a chance to see it. You should be able to catch it on Netflix.