Shadow in the Cloud
Vertical Entertainment | Release Date: January 1, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 17, 2020
Hardly a minute of the movie registers as “realistic,” but that hardly matters, since Liang so fully commits to its over-the-top sensibility that you’ll be clutching the armrest and grinning with glee for most of the ride. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeSep 20, 2020
This ride is much more fun when you know nothing about it going in. Read full review
78
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJan 1, 2021
Shadow in the Cloud has that boisterous B-movie energy, and it’s a reminder that narrative shamelessness is permissible, even welcome, in the hands of an assured storyteller. Read full review
75
Original-CinJim SlotekJan 8, 2021
Effectively the Ripley of this flight, Moretz makes a good case – again - for her ability to work an action film. Shadow in the Cloud is a fun ride through enemy territory, both human and demonic, and Moretz wields her weaponry with aplomb. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDec 31, 2020
The deeper Shadow in the Cloud dives into sci-fi fantasy territory, the more we’re asked to just go with it and enjoy the spectacularly choreographed action sequences — but thanks in large part to Moretz’s ferociously effective work, we’re all too happy to take that zany ride. Read full review
75
IndieWireKate ErblandSep 20, 2020
Part creature feature, part war-is-hell nightmare, and entirely dedicated to cutting down the misogynist jerks who populate it, there’s enough giddy fun to power Shadow in the Cloud through just about anything. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeSep 20, 2020
Pure popcorn entertainment, superimposing the dynamic synths and narrative efficiency of a John Carpenter movie onto the burnished metal and green fatigues of a World War II adventure. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayDec 31, 2020
If not for Moretz’s expressive face, the film might stall out before it really gets rolling. It does get rolling though … and at maximum speed. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDevika GirishDec 31, 2020
The twists come rapidly in the movie’s first half; in the second, the narrative dissolves into a zigzag of flying bodies and explosions that bend the laws of space-time. But the implausibility of it all is a perk: There’s never a moment in this rollicking film when you can tell what’s coming next. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 30, 2020
It's never less than edge-of-your-seat fun. Read full review
70
Screen DailyWendy IdeSep 20, 2020
A sufficiently motivated woman is a fearsome and unstoppable force: the central premise for this gleefully pulpy WWII horror puts a dash of feminist fury into a schlocky B movie set-up. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comNick AllenDec 31, 2020
Roseanne Liang's Shadow in the Cloud is the type of genre movie that makes many of its bizarre choices just for the sake of seeing if it can all work. But whether you find the film to be ambitious, or just some stunt screenwriting, it's intriguing to watch an audacious filmmaker try to keep midnight-ready movies unpredictable, even if that means a sincere but silly mash-up of WWII dogfights, gremlin chaos, and feminism in action such as this. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 30, 2020
It’s a performance of compact, comical fury packed into a movie that cost what they wasted on the “Wonder Woman 1984” avocado toast catering, a little B-movie that could, headed by a pint-sized badass with “Grace” as her middle name. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineSteven ScaifeDec 30, 2020
Roseanne Liang leverages the absolute implausibility of the film’s later scenes into something brisk and exciting right to the very end. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearJan 8, 2021
While this mix of thrills, chills and eyeroll-inducing WTFs is an inauspicious way to start a moviegoing year, it’s the type of viewing lark that works best through the haze of a long day’s journey into last night’s hangover. It isn’t bad. It should be better. Read full review
60
Film ThreatAlex SavelievOct 19, 2020
In surer hands, Shadow in the Cloud could have been a demented allegory about female empowerment; instead, it’s just demented, albeit damn entertaining. Here’s hoping Landis gets his head out of the clouds and writes something that casts lingering shadows next time. Read full review
58
The Film StageJared MobarakSep 20, 2020
Those who enjoy a good hoot and holler with a midnight crowd will surely revel in it while those who don’t will roll their eyes and wonder what’s happening since the reveal of Maude’s mission does become way too heavy-handed for its melodrama to rise above the hollow action trappings. Read full review
50
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaSep 20, 2020
Some may get a kick out of how over-the-top and pulpy Shadow in the Cloud is, but what’s on display here is so abrasive and so bombastic that it begins to sap the life out of you, ultimately leaving a bad taste in your mouth when all is said and done. Read full review
16
The PlaylistJason BaileySep 20, 2020
This is an excruciatingly stupid movie, and the nicest thing I can say about it is that, at 83 minutes, at least it’s over quickly. Read full review
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