Shadow in the Cloud

Shadow in the Cloud (2021) stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Maude Garrett a WWII pilot who boards a B-17 Flying Fortress. She carries with her a case that must be “sat upright at all times” and sports a black eye when we meet her. The crew of the plane is immediately suspicious of her since they were not told she’d be boarding and don’t buy her story about a confidential mission. Tensions quickly rise as the plane becomes airborne and Garrett’s identity is revealed along with the contents of her case.  However, the crew’s distrust of her must be set aside as the plane falls under attack by not only enemy aircrafts, but gremlins.

Firstly, this movie is kind of ridiculous, and it knows it’s ridiculous. It basks in the ridiculousness. Whether that’s when Maude begins to scale the underbelly of a plane while in midflight or when she rips off her sleeves and goes full Rambo on a gremlin. It’s ridiculous, but manages to get its point across, and I think that that is women, especially mothers, can overcome all obstacles for their children and are often underestimated by men.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Once Maude boards the plane she is swiftly shoved into the gunning pit and subsequently locked in when the hatch handle breaks. And that’s the film. 80% of the movie is spent with Maude in the pit as plot only progresses through what she sees in the sky and what she hears over the comms. Over the comms, or radio, is where a lot of sexist language gets flung her way and the other men on the plane make it clear they think she’s useless. Spoiler alert, none of the men who think this way survive. But Maude survives. Remember, she literally scales a plane.

Yes, it’s an action film, a romance, a thriller, a…horror? Where I think this film falters the most is picking a genre and sticking with it. While I don’t think it’s ever an issue for a film to be multifaceted and tell a broad story, Shadow in the Cloud tries to tell too many stories.

Gremlins are such a cool topic on their own that I wish the movie had just focused on them. I kept hoping the briefcase would tie into the confidential mission Maude was on, and maybe she was actually carrying a baby gremlin that attracted the other gremlins. Instead, suddenly we’re stuck staring at the clouds as we find out she’s married, and her husband gave her the black eye and she’s not actually a secret agent. It was anticlimactic to say the least and detracts from the real intrigue this film had to offer.

In conclusion, would I watch this film again? No, I wouldn’t.  I was overall disappointed in the underutilization of gremlins and the acting performance by Moretz.  I did appreciate the feminist critique underlying much of Maude’s interactions and I am now interested in finding more films that largely take place in one location for most of the story. I think those could offer some unique viewing experiences, but this film was not one of those for me.

Rating: R (Strong language)

My Score: 2/5