Through The Shadow review: A strong opening half is sadly let down by a second half that can’t deliver the same standard.
Through the Shadow Review
This supernatural thriller from the coast of Portugal in very much in the vein of Alejandro Amenabar’s The Others and Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Orphanage. There is a period setting, a woman attempting to forge a relationship with troubled children, a spooky old house, and of course, some ghouly going on’s. Even stylistically, a lot appears to be borrowed in Walter Lima Jr.’s thriller, as Virginia Cavendish’s Laura heads out to the country to become the new tutor for a young girl and boy whose parents have died and whose Uncle and previous educator also met something of a dismal end.
Laura as a character is someone convinced to make a change in her life she’s not entirely sure she needs, with the offer of heading out to the country to take care of young Elisa (Mel Maia) and Antonio (Xande Valois) ultimately being driven more by her employers smooth-talking and large salary. These early moments are driven by a great sense of foreboding, with Lima dropping in little touches that feel off-kilter, unsettling and unnerving.
Once Laura reaches the farmhouse where Elisa, and later Antonio, enough subtle touches suitable convey a mystery and the sense that this is a place with a history, and not a particularly cheerful one. This is further enforced by well-dressed period details that can often weaken a film with a small budget attempting a period piece, yet Lima’s construction of his setting never feels inconsistent, even if the photography is at times a little too glossy.
Through the Shadow Review
This all amounts in an incredibly strong first half, driven by the slightly twitchy performance from Cavendish and two exceptional turns from the two young child stars, both evoking performances that colour that characters as individuals with an intelligence far beyond their years. While creepy children may be a common staple in horror films, it is very rare to see them treated with this much thought and maturity, which certainly helps us stay with the film as Ouija boards come out and some of the subtler sexual undertones become much more overt.
Through the Shadow ends up playing as more of a psychological thriller as it is thrown into question whether Laura is in fact seeing spectral spirits, and weather indeed there is a threat to the children’s souls. There is a sense that Lima is building to a crescendo in which something will happen to the main characters, something that will prove devastating. Unfortunately, (and I’ll try keep spoilers to a minimum) the final act fizzles out like a damp squib. You have to commend the film for throwing for something a little ballsy, but then it doesn’t stick the landing with its conclusion, mainly because a conclusion never really forms. It is not an open-ending that it aims for, it simply feels like the script came to a halt, not so much keeping the cat in the bag as just forgetting where they left it.
It is a shame that the second half cannot deliver on what is a very effective opening hour. The performances across the board stay strong throughout, and do a great deal for ensuring you aren’t deterred by the weirder aspects of the relationships that begin to form. It has a brave sense of drive for quite some time, delving into a direction that may alarm but is undeniably earned in its shock factor. That shock factor unfortunately doesn’t come to a head in the finale which will leave you more frustrated rather than spooked or satisfied.
