Review: ‘Shadow of God’ fails to generate an enlightened take on religious horror

Religious horror is having a moment. Over the past year, the genre has exploded with critiques of faith-based extremism, from The First Omen and Immaculate to indie features like Ganymede and The Exorcism of Saint Patrick. When you think there couldn’t possibly be anything left to say, another filmmaker tosses their proverbial hat into the ring. With Shadow of God, director Michael Peterson navigates through religious trauma and PTSD, with great attention given to the psychological wounds that never quite heal. Despite an attempt to scare the audience through genre cliches (demonic voice, body distortion, etc.), the real horror lies in the blinding fanaticism that grows when power is left unchecked. Those moments are fleeting, a missed opportunity to take a Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism approach.

Father Mason Harper (Mark O’Brien) harbors deep scars from his childhood. His father, Angus (Shaun Johnston), once led a religious sect that required whipping as an act of confession and punishment. Mason’s back proves the physical torment and anguish left such harrowing marks that caused him to question his faith. But through the power of prayer and guidance from his mentors, he was able to find his way back to a committed place. Now, he returns to his hometown, where something very strange is happening. While passing a local bridge, he witnesses someone he believes to be his dead father jumping over the rails to his death into the icy river below. But Angus died several years before the incident, leading Mason to question his sanity.

As his father’s physical form reveals itself to another townsperson, Mason’s ex-girlfriend Tanis (Jacqueline Byers) starts to believe that what is occurring is very real. The demonic entity has a deliciously diabolical plan for Mason. He’s the source and essential disciple needed to conjure up the end times. A reckoning is coming full-steam ahead, and all Mason can do is embrace it. All the while, he tries to forgive his father for the trauma he endured as a teenager. His mental capacity may not be able to handle the pressure, yet he forges ahead to save himself as much as the world.

Shadow of God might have worked had the focus been on the real-world horrors rather than the exaggerated fantasy we’ve seen countless times before in film. O’Brien delivers another star turn, as he almost always does. He chews on the material and spits it back out. There are flashes of storytelling brilliance that become muddled in cliches that drain the story of all nuance and profound power. As a result, the script squaders both O’Brien and Byers, leaving them to do their best with the mundane material. Visually, the film fails to generate a unique perspective and leaves scrappy CGI to valiantly fill in the gaps. But nothing about it works, despite the good intentions.

Peterson’s direction is crisp and clearly defined, that’s to be sure. Yet again, it loses its impact when the story barely treads water and the actors endeavor to squeeze blood from stone. There’s only so much the cast can do to bolster the script, and it often comes across as not living up to potential. Shadow of God is, frankly, an unfortunate blunder that will be forgotten in the blink of an eye.