by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden
In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s The Shade by Tyler Chipman, and courtesy of the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
Synopsis
Following the loss of his father, a grieving twenty-year-old struggles to hold his family together as an unspeakable darkness plagues his older brother.
The Good
Joseph: Director Tyler Chipman, who co-wrote the screenplay with David Purdy, presents a character study of a troubled, grieving young man — Chris Galust as Ryan Beckman — with an effectively eerie creature invading his life. Galust, who is in practically every scene after the film’s cold open, nails everything asked of his character in an all-in performance, though I had issues with his character (see “The Bad”). The titular entity’s design is truly creepy, as are the set pieces in which it appears.
Mike: As someone who can identify with the issues of anxiety that main character Ryan deals with (from a couple of perspectives - which is all I’ll say because I’m not here to unload my personal baggage), I felt a profound sense of empathy for him. He’s in the unenviable position of having to deal with some pretty severe anxiety as well as being the man of the house following his father’s suicide, caring for his little brother, and trying to be a voice of reason for his recently returned old brother who has issues of his own.
Galust plays Ryan with an exceptional, careful, and realistic approach as the subject matter of grief and depression is a delicate one, and I am fairly certain that Chipman and co-writer Purdy wanted to portray this as respectfully as possible. I’ve seen other films try to tackle these issues but come across as heavy-handed or a bit over the top, so it’s a “win” for the horror genre to get it right. The script itself is well done with the dialogue coming across as realistic and without any of it FEELING like it was scripted, if that makes sense.
It should also be noted that, insofar as the “horror” of The Shade is concerned, a huge GOOD element here is that the creature that haunts Ryan and his older brother Jason is downright unsettling and reminded me a bit of Killer Bob from Twin Peaks as it slowly peered around objects and creepily crawled towards the camera with an evil look on its face.
The Bad
Joseph: The character of Ryan Beckman was a bit overdone for me. I get that he was grieving heavily over the loss of two family members and being haunted by the titular dark force, but his pushing away everyone except his younger brother trod in one-note territory. He bordered on being an unlikable protagonist to me, and if I don’t have a protagonist to root for in horror movies, I find it a hard watch — and Ryan’s character dominates the screen time. Also, the running time of 2 hours and 13 minutes asks a bit much of viewers, and I definitely did not find the ending satisfying..
Mike: I suspect that viewers are going to be pretty divided over the character of Ryan. Some will feel he’s just a jerk, lashing out at his friends and family and driving wedges between himself and everyone who cares about him, while others will - if not identify with him - at least understand what is driving him.
There’s also the issue of the runtime. While I can see that Chipman wanted to fully show the unraveling that Ryan was undergoing, I think a few scenes could have been cut or at least trimmed a little without losing any of the message that was being delivered.
The Verdict
Joseph: The Shade has much going for it — a solid cast, a well-rendered supernatural being, and impressive direction and cinematography — but could stand to be tightened up a bit more. How much viewers will enjoy the film might well depend on how invested they get in the Ryan Beckman character. Overall, it is certainly worth a view.
Mike: I don’t like getting too thoughtful with any movie reviews that I do. I don’t like reading into a director’s motives or trying to assume I know what they were thinking and why that cigar isn’t just a cigar, blah blah blah. I feel like those types of reviews can sometimes come across as a bit pompous and it’s not really my style - besides, other people do it way better than I can. I prefer to try and have some fun, maybe make a joke or two, and limit myself to hitting the points FOR and AGAINST a film - that’s why our GBV format is so much fun for me. But I feel like I need to try my hand at that style for this. I am also adding a bit of a SPOILER WARNING here.
*****
It seems obvious to me that the creature is a manifestation of the anxiety and depression that seems to run through the males of the Beckman family. It pushed the dad to kill himself, it made older brother Jason take the path he took, Ryan is clearly dealing with it in the here and now, and even little brother James - who eventually sees the creature - seems destined to have to deal with the illness. Ryan’s actions towards those around him are scarily accurate of someone dealing with these kinds of issues; he knows what he’s doing but he has no control - it’s the creature. That is what makes the ending so pitch perfect.
The Shade manages to still deliver a powerful message that will land differently with viewers, with main character Ryan possibly being a rather polarizing figure. While it seems a bit long and could have benefitted from some more editing, it strangely never feels too long. Then again, this may land differently from person to person.
The Shade, from Tyler Chipman and Red King Cinema, will be released theatrically on September 20, 2024.
Directed By: Tyler Chipman
Written By: Tyler Chipman
Starring: Chris Galust, Laura Benanti, Dylan McTee, Mariel Molino
Run Time: 2h 12m
Rating: NR
Release Date: October 17, 2023
If you, or someone you know suffers from depression, don’t forget that you’re not alone and if you ever need to talk to someone, there are plenty of resources available such as those at https://mentalhealthhotline.org/
Comments
Post a Comment
Share your thoughts with us