Shadowtown

Someone said this film starts with a bang...I can only assume they were watching this film as a truck drove by, loudly backfiring as it passed.

This could have easily been a third rate Lifetime or Hallmark Channel made for TV melodrama.

The pacing is maddeningly lethargic, crawling to an anti-climax that could have been reached in 1/2 an hour. Not the 84 minute runtime it wasted.

The plot is both banal and inane....banane.(inanely banal) You will feel cheated of time and money, if you actually paid to view this.

The film opens with a bang that immediately grabs your attention. From there, the colours are muted and the suspense builds slowly - one subtle clue at a time. One viewer at the world premiere called Shadowtown "a superb and original movie with a very Icelandic and poetic ambiance." I can't say it any better myself. This is a film I will watch several times, if only to discover what I missed the first time around. The casting is excellent in a film where everyone is more than they seem.

Great story, well written and acted. No fluff or overdevelopment of characters, just a good story well told. Short and sweet!

Set in the Icelandic financial boom of 2007, dirty tactics were used by real estate developers to acquire old houses in down-town Reykjavik. A mad rush ensued to replace them with gigantic apartment buildings and hotels. Maya, a medical student in her mid twenties, inherits an old house from a schizophrenic grandmother she never met and didn't know existed. Under pressure to sell the house, mysterious messages drive her to look further into her family's past before the chance is gone. A family tragedy is revealed that affects her life even today, raising questions about her grandmother's death, and putting her own life in danger.

SHADOWTOWN is the most recent collaboration between Jon Gustafsson and Karolina Lewicka, a brilliant film I have seen more than once! Fabulous direction and screen writing by the pair. It has mystery, suspense, supernatural aspects and visual beauty.

John Rhys-Davies, one of my favorite character actors of Lord of the Rings fame, plays one of the central characters and is superb. The acting is well done thoughout.

As a photographer I marvelled at the cinematography. Some parts were actual studies in lighting, and how it affects mood. Hats off to the cinematogragher and film crew !

Like reading a great book, certain passages open up your own imagination, personalizing the film for the individual viewer. This is just a superb film that you'll want to see in the Theatres!

Shadowtown is one of the better mystery thrillers out there. It has great atmosphere and mood. It's a little slow but the pace gives the movie time for the story to unfurl.

If you like good mysteries and taunt thrillers, this is a good one to watch.