In The Shadow

2011 • 99 minutes

About this movie

Exhausted from the demands of his abilities as a healer, Diego lives in isolation on a small island in his native Puerto Rico. However, his quiet life is disrupted when Hilary, an American documentarian, arrives to continue her project on migration and identity. Attracted to Diego's mystery and the local gossip about him, she becomes close to him, but discovers his "talent" has a violent edge, one that brings painful consequences to both of them.

Ratings and reviews

Beautifully shot in Puerto Rico with excellent performances by Jorge Sermini and Michelle Keffer and a nice cameo by Danny Trejo. In The Shadow at first seems to be a horror film but don't wait for the killer to jump out from behind the tree, it has a slower more satisfying build than that. It's really a film about people and their struggle to escape their pain, or at least find a place to hide from it, with layers of the supernatural applied in perfect moderation. It's rare to find a genre film that devotes as much time to the story of it's characters as to elements of surprise or SFX. In The Shadow delivers on all fronts and is more than worth the watch. With elements of a horror, thriller and character study In The Shadow can't be pigeonholed into any one genre but delivers just enough in each to leave you satisfied with the whole.

In the Shadow is a film you'd enjoy putting on without knowing very much about at all. I watched it without knowing anything about it, and I think that was to my benefit. The pacing was great, scenery & cinematography just lovely, and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of character development that transpired considering the subject matter. Honestly, I was left thinking about this movie after I had turned it off, which I think is genuinely rare. The subject matter is quite thrilling, but in the hands of other filmmakers, could have ended up being just another dumbed down, cheap thrill. It's a thought provoking movie with a solid performance by Jorge Sermini. Very moody, capturing some really cool moments & with some actual character/atmosphere about it... unlike a lot of debut films. For someone looking to roll the dice on a smaller project or just a thriller in general - go for it.

Shot on location in Puerto Rico, In the Shadow boasts a beautiful cinematic backdrop for a sinister and suspenseful story. What I appreciate about this film is how a very rich and intriguing allegory develops from an otherwise normal man and his daughter. A splendid mix of the natural world and not-so-natural. There seems to be a unique style and taste to the flow of the film as well. A bit of an unsettling current runs throughout the coarse of the film that is accentuated by the film's haunting score. With the lens of the camera turned on the documentarian making the documentary, the acting comes across as very candid and natural. Do yourself a favor and forgo the latest Hollywood pedestrian reincarnation of whatever and support this unexpected and original feature.