SHADOW IN THE CLOUD : Tuesday 19th January 2021.

'SHADOW IN THE CLOUD' which I saw at my local multiplex earlier this week, is an MA15+ Rated New Zealand American fantasy action adventure Co-Production Directed by Roseanne Liang, in only her second full length feature film outing following 2011's 'My Wedding and Other Secrets'. Co-Written by her and Max Landis, the film saw it's World Premier showing at TIFF back in September last year where it won the People's Choice Award in the Midnight Madness stream of underground and cult films, and went on limited release in the US (because of COVID-19) on 1st January. It has so far taken just US$40K at the Box Office and has generated largely positive Reviews. 

The film opens in mid-1943 with Flight Officer Maude Garrett (Chloe Grace Moretz) walking down the runway of a military base in Auckland, New Zealand at night, in the rain and fog. She shouts to a member of the ground crew that she is looking for the 'The Fool's Errand' when that crew member suddenly disappears into the mist, only to leave her standing right next to her transport - a B-17 Bomber, poised ready for take-off. She clambers aboard carrying a brown leather rectangular document bag, and is instantly met with a barrage of questions from the all male and very opinionated crew as to what the Hell she thinks she's doing boarding their plane and to get off straightaway. But Garrett produces a set of papers that confirm her authorisation to be on that plane by a high ranking officer, and that her document bag contains something highly confidential and it is not to be opened by anyone under any circumstances. 

Having received a very frosty reception from the crew, she is ordered by the flight Captain John Reeves (Callan Mulvey) to hunker down for takeoff in the Sperry (which was a spherical ball shaped gun turret fitted to the undercarriage of some American built aircraft during WWII which held the gunner, two heavy machine guns, ammunition and sights, and was designed by the Sperry Corporation, hence the name). Needless to say the seated position in the Sperry leaves very little room for anything else, and so Garrett is forced to leave her document bag with the only crew member who showed her any respect and kindness - Staff Sergeant Walter Quaid (Taylor John Smith), who is under strict instructions to keep the bag upright, not to open it and to keep it secure and in his sights at all times. 

While stuck in the turret Garrett spies a movement of some sort of animal hanging underneath the wing. She reports it over the radio to the rest of the crew who all dismiss it as the rantings of an inexperienced nervous female - all except Private Stu Beckell (Nick Robinson) the tail gunner who also saw it. She is given the all clear to exit the Sperry, but in attempting to do so, one of the welded latches breaks off in her hand jamming her inside. The crew attempt to retrieve her, all the while spewing coarse remarks at her and the situation she finds herself in. She gives back as good as she gets, and at that the crew give up trying to retrieve her and cut off the comms to boot. She then spies a Japanese spy plane flying about 400 meters below and disappearing into the clouds. At that moment the creature she saw earlier springs a surprise attack on the turret, which she is able to fend off with a gun shot wound but is injured in the shoulder by its piercing claw in the process. 

The crew come back on line having heard a single gun shot and ask her why she smuggled a gun on aboard and what she thought she was firing at? Shortly after, clarification comes back from the Auckland air base that Maude Garrett does not exist and that she was not authorised to board the plane. When they attempt to release her from the turret again and question her she deliberately jams the gear mechanism and sets to defend herself and the crew when the Japanese plane reappears and begins to fire on them. Taking control of the two machine guns, she fires on the advancing enemy aircraft shooting it down, and in the process gains the respect of the crew, albeit somewhat grudgingly. 

Garrett comes clean that she is actually married and boarded the bomber under her maiden name, but refuses to tell the men about her mission, reaffirming its confidentiality. Then she sees the creature again, which by now is determined to be a gremlin, as it continues to play havoc with the plane, and eventually Private Tommy Dorn (Benedict Wall) sees it too, but the others disregard him. Suspecting Garrett's confidential assignment to be the cause for their misfortunes, Reeves gives the order to open the bag, which is revealed to contains a sedated baby. With no option now but to confess, Garrett explains that she married at a young age and was severely mistreated by her husband. She had an affair with Quaid and unwillingly got pregnant from it. She never expected to keep the child, but after its birth she couldn't give it up. She decided not to tell Quaid, and so Garrett faked her papers and her mission to get away from her husband before he would kill her in his anger.

Captain Reeves advises that he is turning back to the Auckland air base where Garrett and Quaid will face Court Marshall. Just then three Japanese fighters close in, and the gremlin boards the bomber, injures Quaid and takes the bag holding the now whimpering baby. When the gremlin appears before her with the baby in the bag, Garrett exits the turret and fires her handgun at it, driving it off but leaving the bag hanging precariously from the damaged underside of the wing. 

Risking a perilous climb outside the plane and high altitude, Garrett retrieves her child and clambers back inside the plane through the opening of the now blown-off Sperry. The gremlin attacks again, throwing Technical Sergeant Terrence Taggart (Byron Coll) the radio operator, out of the plane. Garrett is able to eject the gremlin off the plane by chopping off its claw as it clung to the undercarriage, only to see it spread its wings and take flight. When Reeves, Lieutenant Bradley Finch (Joe Witkowski) the navigator, and Dorn are killed by Japanese gunfire, Garrett takes command with the injured RNZAF Co-Pilot Flight Lieutenant Anton Williams (Beulah Koale) and brings the plane roughly but safely down to the ground.

Garrett, Williams, Quaid and Beckell as the only survivors, exit the plane all bloodied and injured carrying the baby in the bag, just as the bomber explodes in a ball of flame. The gremlin reappears and snatches the baby once more. Garrett by this time is mightily pissed off and determined to see an end to their unwelcome very troublesome gremlin. She catches it up and the pair fight with Garrett landing several punches to its head. 

She retrieves the bag, returns it to Quaid and goes back and finally kills the gremlin. She opens the bag and pulls out the now screaming baby, who is obviously by now very hungry. She plugs in the baby to her breast as she and the other survivors watch as the Fool's Errand burns up.

The term 'gremlin' denotes a mischievous creature that sabotages aircraft or other machinery and originates in Royal Air Force slang in the 1920's among the British pilots stationed in Malta, the Middle East, and India. Often they are described or depicted as animals with spiky backs, large strange eyes, and small clawed frames that feature sharp teeth, and in this respect Director Liang has done a pretty good job in capturing that image of the antagonist in this film. Of course the plot here is so over the top ridiculous that you can't help but be swept along by the relentless action, the cutting dialogue and the committed performance of our number one protagonist, Moretz. Playing like an episode straight out of 'The Twilight Zone' this film offers a bonkers mixture of WWII drama, creature feature, and feminist action hero that offers Moretz one of her most meaty roles in years. 'Shadow in the Cloud' is pure pulp, heaps of fun and genre B-movie film making escapism in the finest sense of the phrase, and at a brisk 83 minutes running time does not outstay its welcome. Catch it on the big screen if you can - you won't be disappointed if this sort of film is up your street.

'Shadow in the Cloud' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-