shadow of the moon movie review

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, chaz's journal, great movies, contributors, in the shadow of the moon.

Now streaming on:

“ Seven ” meets “The Terminator” in one of the weirdest genre mash-ups you’ll see all year, Netflix's “In the Shadow of the Moon.” If that pitch sounds odd to you, it really only scratches the surface of a flick that starts as noir, proceeds into action and then dives into a pit of science fiction. While director Jim Mickle has balanced disparate genres and tones before in films like “ We Are What We Are ” and “ Cold in July ,” he loses control of this one, thanks in no small part to a bland performance at the center of the maelstrom. An odd film like this needs a charismatic anchor in its lead role to keep it from losing its human connection and Boyd Holbrook just can’t muster the energy to do that. It’s a strangely flat, unengaging performance that doesn't match the ambition of the overall piece.

Holbrook plays Tom Lockhart, a Philly cop whose life changes on a night in 1988. Just before his very pregnant wife ( Rachel Keller ) goes into labor, Tom stumbles upon the weirdest case in the history of the city of brotherly love. A bus driver, concert pianist, and fry cook all die at the exact same time, their brains literally spilling out of their eyes, ears, and mouths. They all have puncture wounds and a suspect soon surfaces, a young black woman in a blue hoodie ( Cleopatra Coleman ). Lockhart and his partner ( Bokeem Woodbine ) soon track the woman, who seems to know a great deal about Tom, including that his wife is about to have a baby girl. It’s almost as if they’ve met before.

After what appears to be a violent end to a strange story, “In the Shadow of the Moon” jumps ahead to 1997, when it looks like a copycat is repeating the same crimes as nine years earlier. But what if it’s not? What if it’s the same person as in 1988, brought back on the nine-year-cycle of the blood moon? Every nine years, Lockhart goes deeper down the rabbit hole of the case that changes not just his life but the future of our entire civilization. Michael C. Hall lingers around the edges to call Lockhart crazy every nine years in the thickest Philly accent cinema has seen in a generation.

Merging a procedural about an obsession with a single case like “ Zodiac ” with sci-fi elements is a clever idea for a B-movie but “In the Shadow of the Moon” isn’t fun enough to qualify as that. Holbrook and Mickle take themselves way too seriously and force the final hour of the movie into gigantic exposition dumps. This is a classic example of a movie that gets less interesting as we answer more of its questions, and would have worked better if it didn’t feel the need to dot every ‘I’ and cross every ‘T.’ We put together most of the mysteries of “In the Shadow of the Moon” before Lockhart, which drains the back half of a lot of the tension it needs to work as a thriller.

Sometimes a movie that is a bit of everything can end being not enough of anything. “In the Shadow of the Moon” isn’t effective as sci-fi, action, noir, mystery, or even social commentary, even though it has elements of all of the above. What saves it from complete disaster is Mickle’s technical skill—he washes the film in nice blues and grays with cinematographer David Lanzenberg , although even that feels like it could have been leaned into more. It’s a film that needed more style and more personality, especially in its center, to keep its various tones tied together. Instead, they get lost in the dark.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

Now playing

Glenn Kenny

Space Cadet

Trigger Warning

Robert daniels.

A Sacrifice

Peter sobczynski.

National Anthem

Sheila o'malley.

Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge

Nandini balial, film credits.

In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)

115 minutes

Michael C. Hall as Holt

Boyd Holbrook as Locke

Cleopatra Coleman as Rya

Bokeem Woodbine as Maddox

Sarah Dugdale

Rudi Dharmalingam as Naveen Rao

Gabrielle Graham as Tabitha

Gregory Weidman
Geoffrey Tock

Cinematographer

David Lanzenberg
Michael Berenbaum

Latest blog posts

Women in Blue is Good at Suspense, Medium at Feminism

Fantasia 2024: Chainsaws Were Singing, Dark Match, Scared Shitless

Justin Baldoni Wants You to Believe

The Future Was Now Warps Through the Seminal Sci-Fi Summer of 1982

Supported by

Streaming Movie Review

‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ Review: A Twisty Romp Through Time and Genre

Jim Mickle’s unconventional serial-killer movie for Netflix is clever, if bloody messy.

Share full article

By Chris Vognar

Netflix’s “ In the Shadow of the Moon ” gets started with a particularly grisly piece of business. One by one, an assortment of Philadelphians — a bus driver, a classical pianist, the guy grilling up a cheese steak at a greasy spoon — begin bleeding from their orifices before collapsing dead. At least the pianist is thoughtful enough to provide the paradoxically high-tone soundtrack for the carnage.

From there the film jumps through genres much as the narrative jumps through time. It’s a cop movie, with the cocky young Officer Locke ( Boyd Holbrook ) growing increasingly obsessed with what seems like an unsolvable case. It’s a serial-killer movie, although it never again approaches the blood letting of that opening sequence. It’s a family drama. Most surprising of all, it’s a time-travel movie, a sci-fi wrinkle that sneaks up on you amid the rest of the busyness.

Directed by Jim Mickle (“Cold in July”), “In the Shadow of the Moon” can’t quite confine its many moods within a single tone. The core, cat-and-mouse relationship, between Locke and the killer ( Cleopatra Coleman ), never really reaches the emotional depths for which it strives. Like most time-travel stories, “Moon” may prompt the urge to sketch and study a chronological plot diagram.

But the film is never less than engaging, and it’s just about always clever. The genre pileup reveals itself gradually and grows in unexpected directions. Holbrook benefits most from the shifts: He starts off too slick to be sympathetic, but as Locke gets deeper into the case he becomes a convincing, tormented obsessive. “You need help,” says his detective brother in law ( Michael C. Hall , always welcome). Thanks to Holbrook’s performance, we can’t help but agree.

“In the Shadow of the Moon” may go all over the place, but it’s still a ride worth taking. Just make sure you take a good look at that cheese steak before you take a bite.

In the Shadow of the Moon

Not Rated. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes

an image, when javascript is unavailable

Film Review: ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’

This vaguely sci-fi-ish police thriller keeps leaping forward in time. So why does it feel like it's standing still?

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

‘Harold and the Purple Crayon’ Review: They Should Have Gone Back to the Drawing Board 18 hours ago
‘Shine On — The Forgotten Shining Location’: A Documentary Meditation on Stanley Kubrick’s Rooms of Fear 2 days ago
‘Faye’ Review: An Enticing Portrait of Faye Dunaway Looks at Where Acting Meets Life Meets ‘Difficulty’ 2 weeks ago

The dedicated entertainment junkie now has more options than ever before. So if you’re wondering which logy, derivative, visually pedestrian piece of made-for-Netflix pulp to avoid at all costs this week, it would be hard to top “ In the Shadow of the Moon ,” a police thriller powered by a “head-spinning” sci-fi twist that’s revealed so gradually you’ll feel older by the time the movie ends.

The opening, at least, is a grabber. We see the aftermath of a terrorist bombing in 2024 (it’s staged to look like 9/11 lite), and the film then flashes back 36 years and cuts among three civilians — a diner cook dishing up sausage and peppers, a concert pianist in performance, a bus driver carrying a book about Thomas Jefferson — who all succumb to the same horrific fate. Blood seeps out of their noses, ears, and eyes, gathering into a miniature geyser of gore, until each of them collapses. It’s sort of like the exploding-head scenes in David Cronenberg’s “Scanners” without the serious wow factor.

Popular on Variety

The figure who did the injecting is a mysterious, ninja-like avatar who scurries around the city in a navy-blue hoodie, until the hood pulls back and reveals her to be a shaven-headed African-American avenging angel. Her name is Rya, and she’s played by the Australian actress Cleopatra Coleman, whose ripe-featured glower is brought out all the more by her close-cropped hair. She knows all about Thomas — who he is, the fact that his wife is about to have a baby. But then something occurs that makes Rya seem all too mortal.

Until it doesn’t. Jim Mickle, the director of “In the Shadow of the Moon,” and the screenwriters, Gregory Weidman and Geoffrey Tock, treat the film’s central conceit as though it were a revelation that was going to blow our minds. The movie, which is two hours long, galumphs through five different time periods that are spaced nine years apart (1988, 1997, 2006, 2015, and 2024). In each one we learn a little bit more about what’s happening, and every time we do the setup seems that much more laborious and absurd. There is tragedy along the way (Locke has to raise his daughter by himself), but that’s not the same thing as character development. Boyd Holbrook, as Locke, isn’t a bad actor, but he’s just sharp-witted and clean-cut enough that by the time he suddenly appears in matted long hair and a bedraggled beard, a fallen law enforcer living out of his car and mired in conspiracy theory, you feel like you’re watching actor #112 in the audition line to play Charles Manson in “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.”

The conspiracy, as it turns out, is all about race. There’s a mad scientist, played with nerdish fury by the Indian-British actor Rudi Dharmalingam, who has devised a master plan to wipe out hate across the centuries. His scheme, on the face of it, sounds nuts, but since his agenda is a progressive one, the movie appears, after a while, to almost be on his side. If you’re wondering why “In the Shadow of the Moon” has such a portentous title, that’s because the film thinks it’s making some grand statement about reversing the cycles of racism. Make no mistake: It’s a woke movie. But one that will put you to sleep.

Reviewed online, Sept. 23, 2019. Running time: 115 MIN.

Production: A Netflix release of a 42, Automatik, Nightshade production. Producers: Jim Mickle, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Rian Cahill, Ben Pugh, Linda Moran. Executive producers: Aaron Barnett, Joshua Horsfield.
Crew: Director: Jim Mickle. Screenplay: Gregory Weidman, Geoffrey Tock. Camera (color, widescreen): David Lanzenberg. Editor: Michael Berenbaum. Music: Jeff Grace.
With: Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman, Bokeem Woodbine, Michael C. Hall, Rudi Dharmalingam, Rachel Keller, Al Maini, Quincy Kirkwood, Sarah Dugdale, Ryan Allen.

More from Variety

With taylor, beyoncé and billie likely to lead 2025 grammys, will men be shut out of album of the year for the first time, gen alpha prefers social video over paid streaming: 2024 kids survey, billie eilish to read cbeebies bedtime story – global bulletin, taylor swift, billie eilish, beyoncé lead mid-year album sales, latin music continues fast growth, why is bytedance considering a move that burned so many tech giants, more from our brands, ‘the american people deserve better’: harris responds to trump’s racist rant, this grand and lively william hefner-designed home in l.a. is up for grabs at $6.75 million, nfl star amari cooper’s apparel firm takes aim at sneaker giants, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, american idol: carrie underwood replacing katy perry as new judge in season 23 (report).

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘in the shadow of the moon’: film review.

Boyd Holbrook and Michael C. Hall star in 'In the Shadow of the Moon,' Jim Mickle's sci-fi thriller about a time-hopping serial killer.

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

Share on Facebook
Share to Flipboard
Send an Email
Show additional share options
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest
Share on Reddit
Share on Tumblr
Share on Whats App
Print the Article
Post a Comment

If time-travel movies give you a headache (as well they should), best to avoid director Jim Mickle’s bizarre mashup of the science-fiction, thriller and horror genres. In the Shadow of the Moon , premiering on Netflix, doesn’t fully satisfy in any of those departments, although you at least have to give the film points for ambition.

The trippy thriller begins with a prologue set in 2024, although we see little more than an abandoned high-rise office and a torn flag fluttering outside a broken window. It then flashes back to 1988 Philadelphia, where we see a series of people die horribly in mysterious fashion, their brains turning to liquid and blood oozing from every pore in their body. Responding to one of the crime scenes is Thomas Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook, The Predator ), who, unlike his detective brother-in-law (Michael C. Hall, overqualified for the thankless role), discovers puncture wounds on the necks of the victims.

THR Newsletters

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Matt damon teases possible ‘rounders’ sequel: “all of us want to do it”, zendaya auditioned “many times” for ‘descendants,’ former disney channel exec says, ‘the instigators’ director doug liman on his “anti-ocean’s” matt damon reunion and two tom cruise projects, chris evans calls marvel return in ‘deadpool & wolverine’ a “dream come true”, eiza gonzález in talks to join vince vaughn in 20th century action-comedy ‘mike and nick and nick and alice’, brandy wasn’t aware of ‘i know what you did last summer’ reboot: “i need them to give me a call”.

'In the Shadow of the Moon' Review: An Ambitious Genre-Bender with Too Much Netflix Polish

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

How Marvel Jesus Saved the MCU at the Box Office With 'Deadpool & Wolverine'

The 10 darkest horror movies, ranked, danny boyle's '28 years later' just got a thrilling update.

[ Note: This review originally posted out of Fantastic Fest 2019]

When you think of Jim Mickle , you probably conjure a certain type and tone of movie to mind. The filmmaker behind indie horror gems like Stake Land and We Are What We Are and crime thrillers like Cold in July and the wonderful Sundance TV series Hap and Leonard , Mickle has an established talent for blending grounded narratives with a touch of high-concept fantasticism. With his new Netflix sci-fi detective drama, Mickle takes his biggest swing yet with an ambitious genre-bending tale of murder, obsession, and redemption.

The less you know about In the Shadow of the Moon before you walk in, the better, so I’ll keep this short, sweet, and spoiler-free as possible. Boyd Holbrook stars as Locke, an ambitious Philadelphia police officer who winds up locked in an obsessive, life-defining hunt for a serial killer that spans decades. In 1988, bodies start piling up. Victims with no obvious connection, from all walks of life, die suddenly and horribly after being assaulted and injected with a mysterious agent. But when Locke and his higher-ranking, standoffish brother-in-law Holt ( Michael C. Hall ) track down the culprit, everything takes a turn towards sci-fi. Especially when -- against all laws of science — the murderer is back on a killing spree nine years later. And then nine years after that. And nine years after that, too. A recurring nightmare that drives Locke ever deeper to the brink of madness, calling his entire reality into question.

in-the-shadow-of-the-moon-michael-c-hall-boyd-holbrook

As you might guess from that description, In the Shadow of the Moon is a plot-heavy genre mash-up with big, impressive ambitions. And often, those ambitions lead to thrilling story choices and rich, cinematic set-pieces. The first half, in particular, is full of evocative imagery; the standout being Mickle’s chilling embrace of the gory and grotesque when he stages his murder victims. Across the board, Mickle’s direction and his striking work with cinematographer David Lanzenberg are the highlights of the film. The chase scenes are pulse-pounding, the end results can be horrifying, and it all looks gorgeous (especially for those of us who were lucky enough to see it in the theatrical festival screening.) The downside is that the film isn’t just plot-heavy. In turn, it’s also character-light.

The best hook is Locke’s descent into Zodiac- levels of obsessive investigation and the way his consistent choice to put work and his concept of justice before family leads to the death of his own happiness. His downward spiral bottoms out time after time, each new low a horrifying consequence of his own choices. It’s not subtle, but it’s effective. But at the same time, there's no real depth to the psychology of his tireless pursuit despite the on constant beatings he takes for his doggedness. We don't get to understand his sense of justice or the source of his obsession beyond “murder is bad” and a late-developed hope that his chase could possibly undo some of the harm it caused, and without a deeper understanding of what makes him tick, it often feels more like an archetypal construct than a character study.

in-the-shadow-of-the-moon-cleopatra-coleman

Likewise, In the Shadow of the Moon taps into racial and socio-political themes that give the film timeliness but feel underexplored. These topics have become hyper-relevant and thoroughly investigated in the years since the script was written, and what might have once felt like a cutting-edge prod at a raw nerve lying under the surface of America’s civil discourse, now feel like a surface-level glance at culture-dominating topics. In the Shadow of the Moon seeks to shine a light on issues that have been sitting dead center in the spotlight for years, and by now, we’ve graduated to a lot more nuance and depth in the conversation than the film can give. It’s likely an unfortunate a byproduct of production timelines, but there’s no denying it makes the impact lesser.

The film's biggest fault is ultimately is the overwhelming stamp of Netflix's hyper-polished storytelling that rolls over the finer details in the film's final act. In the end, Mickle’s ambition falls prey to some aggressive scripting of the reveals, which are translated with the subtlety of a shotgun. As if designed, maybe, to ensure you totally get the movie even if you were, let's say, for example, just half-watching on your phone. Which is a bit over the top if you actually are paying attention. That said, even with its faults, In the Shadow of the Moon is a thrilling genre exercise that showcases Micke's talents while pointing to what should be a bright future in big-budget filmmaking.

Mickle's eye remains a singular signature treat, and even with an expansive sci-fi story to tell, he manages to make the world feel realistic and relatable -- sometimes too much for your liking. You might see some of the twists coming in the end, but that doesn't take away from the thrill ride of getting to those big reveals. Sharply shot with standout flourishes of enthusiastic genre flair, In the Shadow of the Moon may have too much of that signature Netflix sheen, but Mickle brings enough grit to keep it grounded.

Michael C. Hall

In the Shadow of the Moon Review

02 Nov 2007

100 minutes

In the Shadow of the Moon

Of the 12 human beings who actually set foot on another world, only nine are still with us. In David Sington’s wonderful documentary, the remaining Apollo astronauts recount their lunar experiences directly to camera.

We are treated to good-humoured anecdotes (Michael Collins), glimpses at scientific method (Buzz Aldrin) and an overwhelming sense of a team working together at the right time, for the right reasons.

Almost 40 years after Apollo 11’s historic first moon-landing, the lovingly restored footage still retains power. Even with the reclusive Neil Armstrong sadly absent, the film succeeds as a reminder of human endeavour.

Netflix's In the Shadow of the Moon Review

New netflix movie is a police procedural with a time-travel twist..

Netflix Spotlight: September 2019

The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies

Netflix's In the Shadow of the Moon is most effective when having fun with its time-travel premise, but the film simply doesn’t work when injecting politics and social commentary into proceedings. The action is thrilling and the science fiction stuff compelling, but there are several occasions where it feels like the screenplay is talking down to its audience, most notably during its heavy-handed climax.

Where to Watch

In the Shadow of the Moon Review: Netflix's Time-Travel Thriller

More Reviews by Chris Tilly

Ign recommends.

Games Industry Criticizes Bungie Management, CEO Pete Parsons in Wake of Layoffs: 'Inexcusable'

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

For Parents
For Educators
Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

Get the app
Movie Reviews
Best Movie Lists
Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best TV Lists
Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
Common Sense Selections for TV
Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

Book Reviews
Best Book Lists
Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Game Reviews
Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Podcast Reviews
Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

App Reviews
Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

YouTube Channel Reviews
YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

How to Talk with Kids About Violence, Crime, and War

Family Tech Planners
Digital Skills
All Articles
Latino Culture
Black Voices
Asian Stories
Native Narratives
LGBTQ+ Pride
Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

In the shadow of the moon, common sense media reviewers.

Lofty recap of the Apollo moon program.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The courage, bravery, and potential sacrifice of t

News footage of aircraft crashes, bombing, and com

Some "damn"-level cursing and a discussi

Vintage clips include commercial sponsors who glom

Some smoking.

Positive Messages

The courage, bravery, and potential sacrifice of the Air Force fighter pilots-turned-lunar astronauts and their ground crews is a big topic. Singled out for particular awe is Neil Armstrong's ability to keep a cool head in extreme circumstances. Some astronauts speak of their "born again" religious reactions to setting foot on the moon. Others seem to embrace eco-enlightenment.

Violence & Scariness

News footage of aircraft crashes, bombing, and combat in Vietnam.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Some "damn"-level cursing and a discussion of urination.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Vintage clips include commercial sponsors who glommed onto the Apollo program, like Miracle Whip.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this documentary mentions the riots and upheavals of the 1960s, as well as the dangers of the Apollo moon flights, with much time devoted to the launch-pad fire that killed three astronauts on the ground. There is also Buzz Aldrin's revelation that he urinated inside his space suit on worldwide TV before stepping on the moon. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON is a retelling of the Apollo space program that aims rather high in compressing the whole epic moon-launch mission into feature length, covering everything from how the space program fit into the political climate of the time to the disasters (the 1967 launch-pad fire) and near-disasters (the Apollo 13 mission).

Is It Any Good?

This never-boring documentary uses no charts or diagrams or PBS-style narrator. Instead, it comes from the mouths of the astronauts and ground crew themselves, helped by a clever montage of astounding NASA space footage and pop-culture background (like Neil Armstrong's parents on a vintage TV game show).

Two sides of the space program emerge here. One is the awe of achievement for all humankind that seemed to transcend the turbulent times. The other shows the fine line between the "Right Stuff" idea ("an unshakable belief in your own infallibility") and the overconfidence that led to a 1967 fire on the launch pad that killed astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee in a sealed cockpit inferno.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the documentary's assertion that the American space program somehow transcended its Cold War goal to outdo the Soviets, becoming a more meaningful enterprise. What does the idea of a successful moon landing mean to you? What lessons do you get from the cool-headed "right stuff" attitude of the pilots? The astronauts allude at the end, briefly, to conspiracy theories that the Apollo moon landing was a hoax filmed on a movie set. Why do you think people would believe that?

Movie Details

In theaters : September 12, 2007
On DVD or streaming : February 11, 2008
Cast : Alan Bean , Buzz Aldrin , Neil Armstrong
Director : David Singleton
Studio : THINKFilm
Genre : Documentary
Topics : History , Science and Nature
Run time : 99 minutes
MPAA rating : PG
MPAA explanation : mild language, brief violent images and incidental smoking
Last updated : February 25, 2022

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon

Netflix’s In the Shadow of the Moon plays smart tricks with time

Its science fiction is clumsy, but there’s a strong human dynamic.

By Tasha Robinson

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Welcome to Cheat Sheet, our breakdown-style reviews of festival films, VR previews, and other special event releases. This review comes from the 2019 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

One of the chief joys of the time travel subgenre is strictly mechanical: it’s all about the ways nonlinear characters let creators deconstruct a standard narrative, bringing different segments of the story together in unexpected ways. Construction-oriented movies like Timecrimes or Predestination scramble the order of the pieces on-screen, bait viewers to guess why certain things happen, and then slowly fit those pieces together into a startling whole.

But the same thing can be done in movies without time travel, like Memento , where the audience just receives the story out of order. A more specific and unique joy of time travel stories is the way they can address one of humanity’s chief bugaboos: the way choices, once made, can’t be unmade. Part of the reason science fiction writers have been obsessed with time travel for so long is because it lets people live out a fantasy of being able to fix the past with perfect hindsight, taking back choices and making new ones — hopefully better ones, but often entertainingly worse ones. There are variations on the genre, but more often than not, time travel stories embrace the fantasy of the do-over, the undo-key on life.

Netflix’s new thriller In the Shadow of the Moon hits both these buttons: it’s constructed as a puzzle for viewers to unlock (though, like a lot of mysteries, it cheats by leaving some key clues offscreen), and it plays with the fantasy of being able to fix the past and avert the present. It does both of these things a little clumsily, but for fans who already enjoy how the genre works, and feel more challenged than frustrated by the prospect of waiting for a story to fall into place, it does offer a sense of scope that most time travel stories don’t.

WHAT’S THE GENRE?

Science fiction. The technology that enables the film’s opening crimes isn’t immediately evident, but it’s almost instantly clear that it’s impossible by present-day standards. It’s the kind of film where the audience will be way ahead of the protagonists, simply because they recognize the trope and aren’t invested in denying time travel as an option. It’s like a zombie movie where the main characters keep saying “But zombies aren’t real!” no matter how many walking, moaning, rotting carcasses they face.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

In 1988, Philadelphia beat cop Tommy Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook) is at a transition point in life: his wife is heavily pregnant, and he’s fairly sure he’s on the cusp of being promoted to detective. His daughter’s imminent arrival has him anxious, though, because as long as he’s stuck on overnight shifts, he’s out of sync with his wife Jeanie (Rachel Keller). So when people start dropping dead under strange conditions, he pushes himself further into the investigation than his rank warrants, hoping to prove his detective skills. That pushiness annoys his more laid-back partner, Winston Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine), and his boss and brother-in-law, Detective Holt (Michael C. Hall).

But Tommy’s aggressive lunge for involvement sets him up for a close encounter with the killer, who reveals things she shouldn’t know about him. It also sets him up to investigate when people start dying under identical circumstances exactly nine years later. By that time, he’s a detective, Holt is a police lieutenant, and life is different for everyone. It’s even more radically different nine years after that, by which point, Tommy has deduced the pattern behind the killings, even though no one believes his rants about time travel.

WHAT’S IT REALLY ABOUT?

It’s more or less about the “Would you go back in time and kill baby Hitler?” ethical conundrum. If this was a less pulpy movie that was more devoted to exploring the ideas it presents, it might set off a significant conversation about the balance of one human life against thousands and the ethics of taking lives to save them. But In the Shadow of the Moon treats that question as easily answered and not worth exploring. Off with baby Hitler’s head!

IS IT GOOD?

It has its significant strengths. The greatest one is the way its construction lets audiences see the shape of what’s coming but not the details. The movie’s opening shot of a devastated office building, unchecked fires, widespread damage, and a seemingly deserted downtown in 2024 Philadelphia gives the whole film a palpable pressure. Tommy has a deadline and a limited number of nine-year jumps before disaster strikes, but he isn’t aware that he’s barreling toward a grim future. It’s a neat narrative trick that’s meant to put the audience on edge as they count down the years toward disaster.

But the other deadline is even more compelling: as the film moves forward, Tommy is visibly aging and disintegrating under the pressure of a threat other people keep dismissing. Each nine-year gap gives Philadelphia’s police force a chance to forget the previous wave of deaths and move on, and Tommy looks like a psychopath for clinging to his conspiracy theories for so long.

It’s clear early on that the story will check in on Tommy every nine years until he finally solves the mystery or dies trying. And then the filmmakers take every advantage of that setup. Tommy’s life doesn’t go the way he planned, and one of the film’s better conceits is the way director Jim Mickle ( We Are What We Are ) and writers Gregory Weidman and Geoffrey Tock let the audience fill in the gaps between segments for themselves, drawing their own conclusions about the tragedies of Tommy’s life.

In that sense, Shadow of the Moon ends up playing into some of the natural human tragedy of generational projects like Richard Linklater’s Boyhood , a coming-of-age story filmed over the course of 12 years, or Michael Apted’s 7 Up documentary series, which checks in on the same group of Britons every seven years to see how their lives are coming along. ( The latest installment, 63 Up , debuted on British TV earlier in 2019.) As Shadow of the Moon tracks Tommy’s losses, it starts to feel like a look at how people age, how quickly time gets away from us, and how we sacrifice possible parts of our lives with every priority we set.

But other aspects of the film aren’t as strong or well-considered. There’s a side plot involving a scientist who shows up in Tommy’s precinct with a handful of notes and some babble about the Moon, which explains both the film’s title and the nine-year gaps. But the character never feels particularly integrated with the story, and both his information and his later decisions feel like the worst kind of science fiction pulp plot spackle. The nature of the deaths raises a lot of questions that largely have to be answered with either “Because it’s convenient for the plot” or “Because it makes for cool visuals.” The concluding reveal is over the top both in its ridiculous patness and in its late-breaking attempt to spark big, soft emotions in a movie that never set its audience up to feel them.

The film concludes with a voice-over that seems aimed at belatedly turning the whole project into a much more thoughtful movie about consequences and connection than it actually is. As long as Shadow of the Moon sticks to action sequences and the pains of its isolated protagonist, it’s a tightly wound thriller with a surprising speculative element. But every attempt to reach outside that box feels half-hearted and frustratingly unfounded. It’s like a small film that’s trying to be bigger, without enough heart or structure to back up the larger ambitions.

WHAT SHOULD IT BE RATED?

There’s a fair bit of blood and a little gore, but nothing exceptionally stomach-wrenching. PG-13 at most.

HOW CAN I ACTUALLY WATCH IT?

In the Shadow of the Moon launched on Netflix on September 27th, 2019.

Google Maps is getting even more like Waze

Microsoft’s new xbox controller is more translucent than ever before, arc’teryx’s new powered pants could make hikers feel 30 pounds lighter, a first look at apple intelligence and its (slightly) smarter siri, logitech ceo hanneke faber wants your next mouse to last forever.

More from Entertainment

Screenshot from the 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards featuring the event’s two hosts Greg Miller (left) and Stella Chung (right).

The DICE Awards show is the celebration developers and fans deserve

You should play Splatoon with your family

The Nintendo Switch 2 will now reportedly arrive in 2025 instead of 2024

The best Presidents Day deals you can already get

In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)

User Reviews

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

User Ratings
External Reviews
Metacritic Reviews
Full Cast and Crew
Release Dates
Official Sites
Company Credits
Filming & Production
Technical Specs
Plot Summary
Plot Keywords
Parents Guide

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits
Alternate Versions
Connections
Soundtracks

Photo & Video

Photo Gallery
Trailers and Videos

Follow Polygon online:

Follow Polygon on Facebook
Follow Polygon on Youtube
Follow Polygon on Instagram

Filed under:

Entertainment

Netflix’s In The Shadow Of The Moon could be the best Terminator movie of the year

Get ready for a mystery that (time) travels to dark places

Share this story

Share this on Facebook
Share this on Reddit
Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: Netflix’s In The Shadow Of The Moon could be the best Terminator movie of the year

Just a few weeks before Terminator: Dark Fate hits theaters, a new movie about a time-traveling killer going back to the past to murder some people is now out on Netflix.

In The Shadow of The Moon first channels its inner Lethal Weapon. From the blue-tinted color palette to the car chases to the funny and constant banter between the characters is like a greatest hits of ’80s crime thriller visuals. The action is set in 1988, where two Philadelphia cops, Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook) and Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine), work the graveyard shift much to the dismay of Lockhart’s wife. They’re investigating a series of bizarre and gruesome deaths where people drop dead from internal hemorrhaging, seemingly caused by three tiny puncture wounds in the back of their necks.

Lockhart eventually finds their suspect, a young and mysterious woman (Cleopatra Coleman), but they accidentally kill her during their encounter. Nine years later, Lockhart has been promoted, but has suffered a personal loss. That’s when the killings start again, and the suspect looks eerily familiar to the woman that died all those years ago.

Though the loopy time travel (introduced early on, so don’t worry spoilerphobes) and mystery surrounding the murders are the hook, what keeps it all together is Holbrook. He nails the balance between obsessing over the truth behind these murders and the grief and loss of sanity that ensures from that obsession. As the movie keeps jumping forward in time, we see Holbrook not only aging, but physically and emotionally deteriorating, with a big emphasis on his relationship with his daughter Amy (Quincy Kirkwood and Sarah Dugdale) and brother-in-law Holt (Michael C. Hall) and how it falls apart through the years.

boyd holbrook and michael c clarke in 1980s cop mode

With every time jump, director Jim Mickle’s style changes to fit the era being depicted. The cold blues of the ’80s give way to warm colors in the ’90s and David Fincher’s Seven -inspired camerawork and pacing. The 2006-set scenes pop with Michael Bay’s lens flares. Though not the focus of the film, In The Shadow Of The Moon features fantastic make-up effects that gradually ages the cast. This is aided by a production design that perfectly recreates Philadelphia across the ages, paying close attention to the details of the building, cars and even locations to make the city come to life and please anyone familiar with The City of Brotherly Love.

Without going into plot specifics, In The Shadow Of The Moon features a killer with a very clear motive for their actions, one that ties into the movie’s relevant political allegory. The rise and danger of violent nationalistic ideologies is an idea at the center of the story, particularly how easily ideas can spread and how difficult it is to shut them down once they’ve taken a hold of people. Though written before the 2016 presidential election, the movie has the years 2015 and 2024 as key events for a terrifying and very real alternate version of our reality. Even before that, police violence and protest over the lack of accountability play big roles in establishing the dark reality the characters are living in.

The problem with most time-travel logic is lack of understanding of how the science would work, and an overreliance on a suspension of disbelief. In The Shadow Of The Moon clearly aspires to be the next Looper or Edge of Tomorrow, but the more we find out about the world, the more holes the script pokes in itself.

In The Shadow Of The Moon adds an emotional and thrilling twist to the time-travel genre, one that focuses on character and world building. Though the ending ultimately falls flat of its premise due to its inconsistent science, there’s enough mystery and excitement to make this the best Terminator movie of the year.

The next level of puzzles.

Take a break from your day by playing a puzzle or two! We’ve got SpellTower, Typeshift, crosswords, and more.

Sign up for the newsletter Shopkeeper

We deliver the best gaming deals to your inbox for the perfect price: free

Just one more thing!

Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.

Lee Jung-jae in a still from season 2 of Squid Game, looking around

Squid Game season 2 has a release date — and a season 3 renewal

A stock image of the fully assembled Lego Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi set on a small shelf

Here’s where you can pre-order the Lego Super Mario & Yoshi set

Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae peacefully meditates in Honkai: Star Rail

Honkai: Star Rail Xianzhou Luofu treasure chest locations and map

looking down the line of scrimmage in a game between USC and UCLA in a screenshot from EA Sports College Football 25

10 tips for recruiting in EA Sports College Football 25

A collection of suspicious-looking frog plushies clustered together in a gazebo in Palia.

Palia’s new Home Tours showcase some delightful and creative plots

Xbox Wireless Controller – Sky Cipher Special Edition (a blue transparent controller)

Microsoft embraces transparent tech with new metallic sky blue Xbox controller

Home » Movies » Movie Reviews

In the Shadow of the Moon Review

In the Shadow of the Moon (Netflix) review

Netflix has introduced a movie that not only takes audiences into the psychological effects of working in civil service but strangely and yet successfully marries the theme with a genre bordering on science fiction.

In the Shadow of the Moon (Netflix) tells the story of youthful, naive Locke, a policeman with a thirst for “real” crime and with a passion that will eventually shape his future. In 1988 a string of deaths inspire great interest due to the cause and circumstances surrounding each one. These people seem to have nothing in common, except for three injection wounds to the neck and all dying in the same brutal way at the same time. When a victim is found with the telling three marks alive, she manages to give just enough information for Locke to identify a suspect. This is where the story becomes something of the unexpected as the suspect known as the women in the hoodie confronts Locke and reveals she already knows him and his entire life, including his future.

In the Shadow of the Moon begins in a fairly safe and mundane way, surely laying the path of information for future excitement. To begin Locke’s character is neither here nor there, he is just of the ordinary. A cop that sticks his nose where it is not qualified to go, in the hopes of being promoted to a detective. A usual storyline not unfamiliar to those interested in the crime-fiction drama, as an ignorant police officer uses their charm and sway to intrude on crime scenes. Personally, Locke’s charm was not that charming and when he was allowed to literally mess with a corpse after saying “I’ll give you a smoke” it all felt a little juvenile and predictable. Fortunately for In the Shadow of the Moon this start was just the foundation for a character that was soon to be rich, complex and in a way heartbreaking.

Much in the fashion of other memorable classics such as Memento or Shutter Island , In the Shadow of the Moon takes audiences on a roller coaster as they navigate the twists and turns of the narrative. Do not be fooled; this film is not what it seems and is sure to break your heart and remind you what it means to value the life you have. With little expectations going in audiences will be pleasantly surprised to be swept up in the obsession that Locke finds himself gripped by as he tries to understand why people die in a certain fashion every nine years. The script is tantalizing and incredibly paced as the narrative urges audiences to try and comprehend for themselves the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the “murders”. Following Locke as he is plagued by his unquenchable need to discover the truth leads the audience to question their own morals, integrity and egotistical desires as we wonder what we might do in his shoes.

Boyd Holbrook plays the formidable Locke, lending his talent to portray a man that grows into himself through an arduously complex storyline. Holbrook is magnificent as he demonstrates a subtle character progression throughout the chronological years of the story. Holbrook offers a deep and meaningful character arc that does justice to the script, further influencing the audience to empathize and relate with the narrative on a profound level. Holbrook is not alone as In the Shadow of the Moon boasts a plethora of talent, including Cleopatra Coleman, Bokeem Woodbine and Michael C. Hall, whom all come together to sell the heart of the film with passion and gumption.

Overall In the Shadow of the Moon is tantalizing, provocative and exhilarating. It is the kind of movie you want to watch twice as new subtleties and nods to themes rear their faces in hindsight. The movie explores themes of race, politics and civil war whilst daringly wrapping their entire meaning in themes of time travel, dimension, and reality. The production designers and cinematographers should be commended for their nuance and sense of foreboding as props and shots are manipulated to give repeat viewers knowing nods to the plot that lays ahead. On a more human level, the film is one full of life lessons, of regret, closure and moving on. In the Shadow of the Moon is incredibly moving and had me with tears in my eyes as I was reminded what it means to only have one life and to live it fully as you truly cannot predict the future. Sure to be a win with crime-fiction and sci-fi fans both and honestly a contender to win the hearts of audiences who give it the chance, In the Shadow of the Moon is unpredictable and fresh, something new for audiences that want to experience something a little bit different, a film of passion and deception.

Article by Jonathon Wilson

Jonathon is one of the co-founders of Ready Steady Cut and has been an instrumental part of the team since its inception in 2017. Jonathon has remained involved in all aspects of the site’s operation, mainly dedicated to its content output, remaining one of its primary Entertainment writers while also functioning as our dedicated Commissioning Editor, publishing over 6,500 articles.

The Hardy Boys (2020) season 1 - Hulu series

The Hardy Boys (2020) season 1 review - the popular adapted mystery series returns on Hulu

Strong Girl Nam-soon Season 1 Episodes 9 & 10 Recap - Shi-o's past is revealed

This website cannot be displayed as your browser is extremely out of date.

Please update your browser to one of the following: Chrome , Firefox , Edge

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

79% Deadpool & Wolverine Link to Deadpool & Wolverine
98% Sing Sing Link to Sing Sing
96% Dìdi Link to Dìdi

New TV Tonight

100% Batman: Caped Crusader: Season 1
87% A Good Girl's Guide to Murder: Season 1
80% Futurama: Season 12
100% Women in Blue: Season 1
-- Unstable: Season 2
-- Hotel Portofino: Season 3
-- Betrayal: The Perfect Husband: Season 2
-- Unsolved Mysteries: Season 4
-- Cowboy Cartel: Season 1

In the Shadow of the Moon

What to know.

Director David Sington poetically interwove 20th Century's cosmonautic history with its effect on the public's view of their country, their heroes and their future.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

David Sington

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin

Eugene Cernan

Michael Collins

Charles Duke

More Like This

Related movie news.

In The Shadow Of The Moon Ending Explained: Time Is Not A Flat Circle

Spoilers follow.

Time travel as a plot device is inherently tricky to pull off in a serious, dramatic setting, as it introduces logical paradoxes that remain unexplained even by scientific theory . There's the Grandfather paradox, which introduces too many inconsistencies within a timeline, and the question of negated intent once the goals facilitated by time travel are accomplished. However, if the story is gripping and twisty enough, and ends on a satisfactory note, such inconsistencies can be easily sidelined. But when it comes to a film like "In the Shadow of the Moon," the case becomes inherently complicated, especially when you dissect the time travel mechanics it employs.

"In the Shadow of the Moon" ends on a rather triumphant note, where the time travel accomplishes its goal, and the protagonists, Lockie ( Boyd Holbrook ) and Rya (Cleopatra Coleman), are given the opportunity to start over. While this works from a character standpoint, the ending leaves us with more questions than answers. While Rya's plan to travel backward in time to avert a race-motivated civil war is logical enough, the nuances of the story are lost as the web of mysteries deepens, and the untangling in the end is sudden and anticlimactic.

To director Jim Mickle's credit, however, "In the Shadow of the Moon" does not have a single predictable moment, and even when things become crystal clear, there's always a heady detail that unravels when one least expects it. There's definitely more than meets the eye, so let's dive into the story and make sense of the twisty ending that breaks most time travel rules, for better or worse.

Breaking linear logic

"In the Shadow of the Moon" is about breaking a toxic loop, or untangling a doomed ouroboros to ensure a better world. At least that's how Rya perceives her motivations, as she is tasked with traveling backward in time to eliminate those who will contribute to a catastrophic white supremacist movement in the future. This future is laid bare in the opening scene, set in Philadelphia in 2024, where the world burns with a severely altered American flag in the frame. This is the extremist vision that needs to be uprooted even before its seeds are sown — essentially, all traces that contribute to a butterfly effect need to be eliminated. While we will delve into the ethics of such an act later, here's a quick refresher on the baseline events that trigger the ending.

After the opening, we jump back in time to 1988, where Lockie, an ambitious Philadelphia cop is introduced, investigating a serial murder case alongside his partner, Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine). All the victims, who are seemingly unrelated, hemorrhage to their deaths in gruesome ways. The only evidence of wrongdoing is three tiny puncture wounds on the base of their necks, mimicking a triangle. Lockie's involvement with the case is not accidental, of course, as it will grow to haunt him throughout his life, and eventually alter the course of history.

Lockie's only suspect is a woman whom he encounters even after she apparently dies in 1988. As she appears at an interval of every 9 years since then, Lockie comes to a terrible realization: the woman is traveling backward in time while everyone is moving forward concurrently, and these temporal intersections allow her to alter the course of history, which directly impacts the future.

The stakes are terribly personal

The first half of the film unravels like a police procedural , where Lockie and Maddox are busy inspecting clues and chasing an elusive suspect. After Maddox dies, Lockie is left to mire in the obsession of finding the killer alone, and this is when he realizes that he's more intimately involved with the case than he imagined. Details about Lockie's personal life, such as the death of his wife during childbirth and the fact that he has to parent his daughter, Amy, alone, suddenly become more pertinent when the suspect relays these events to him even before they occur.

The twist towards the end is the reveal that the suspect, Rya, is actually Amy, Lockie's daughter, who was sent by him to the past to remedy the catastrophe in the future. This revelation destabilizes Lockie's perception of reality and the understanding of his evolving relationship with socio-political unrest and violence. The schism presented is frustrating to watch, as "In the Shadow of the Moon" attempts to offer social commentary without diving into the nuances of the heavy subject matter. With Rya propped up as the one who prevents race-based violence and injustice, there's little exploration of what her actions mean from an ethical standpoint.

This is a time-tested ethical question of whether it is okay to go back in time and murder someone to prevent a tragedy later down the line, and the answers are never simple, as one needs to consider a range of situational factors. However, "In the Shadow of the Moon" doesn't offer any answers either, as it opts for a personal journey that involves time travel and sociopolitical edge, but doesn't bother fleshing out any of these aspects convincingly.

Perspective is everything

The entirety of the film is experienced through Lockie's perspective, as he experiences time like the rest of us, and balks when he realizes that Rya/Amy is experiencing time backward. While this helps root us in the perspective of someone who experiences the reveal just as we do, it robs us (and the premise) of something more valuable: Rya's perspective of reverse chronology, tethered to lunar cycles that create a bridge between two timelines.

This perspective is infinitely more interesting and is never glimpsed at any point, which breaks the unspoken rule of unraveling events from the perspective of the person doing the time traveling. This is where films like "Synchronic" succeed , as it is much more impactful when the traveler is our tether, and no amount of twists or emotional curveballs can overshadow the necessity of a solid perspective-rich experience.

Another reason why the ending of the film feels unearned is that it is revealed by Rya within the last 10 minutes. There is simply too little time to unload a reveal this involved and intimate, and there's a considerable amount of "telling" instead of "showing" doing the heavy lifting here. While character expositions work when executed well enough, here, everything uttered feels almost hollow, especially when Rya talks about the values Lockie taught her to prepare her for such a journey. The intended impact is the opposite of that in "Tenet" — while the Protagonist and Neil are never shown meeting in the future (the starting point), the relationship feels complete and the puzzle works.

The narrative of "In the Shadow of the Moon" shines only at points where Rya and Lockie's perspectives intersect, creating a cause-and-effect chain that is mindbending, yet pretty simple when dissected. The rest feels like static: unnecessary and intermittent.

A hollow, fragile core

A key player in Rya and Lockie's plan is Naveen Rao (Rudi Dharmalingam), the doctor who pioneers the time travel technology and assists Rya in her mission to inject her targets. While the extent of his involvement makes sense, the nature of the assassinations carried out is rather complicated. While Rya travels to the past at the interval every 9 years (when the unique lunar conjunction occurs) and injects a victim physically, the deaths are actually triggered in the future by Naveen himself. The reasoning presented is that the deaths need to occur simultaneously, but the "why" is never explained. This is a pretty glaring loophole, as the gap between Rya's attack and the triggered assassination allows ample chance for the targets to report to the authorities — but for some reason, they don't.

Moreover, the glaring tragedy that lingers throughout is that Lockie's actions directly affect Rya in the future, which eventually leads to her unwitting death at Lockie's hands in 1988. This action cannot be undone, and while Lockie has time to spend time with Rya from 2015 onward now that the civil war has been averted, this second chance does not make sense from a temporal perspective. If her death is inevitable, as events cannot be altered, then her mission loses immediate meaning, as determinism directly challenges free will and the ability to alter the past via time travel.

Moreover, once the mission is accomplished, the onus for the mission itself is erased, which presents a fresh set of contradictions that are rather difficult to reconcile. While it's tempting to suspend disbelief for the sake of convincing fiction, "In the Shadow of the Moon" has a hollow, fragile core, that falls apart on scrutiny, taking down its very integrity along with it.

Action/Adventure
Children's/Family
Documentary/Reality
Amazon Prime Video

More From Decider

R.I.P. Shannen Doherty: '90210' & 'Charmed' Actress Dead at 53

Bette Midler Tearfully Shuts Down Hoda Kotb's Questioning During Emotional...

Were Rats Scurrying Across The Screen In 'The Bachelorette' Season 21...

Netflix Basic Plan Discontinued: Is Netflix Getting Rid Of Its Cheapest...

Michael Strahan Returns To 'Good Morning America' After Two Weeks Off The...

'The Bear' Season 3 Review: Carmy Secures His Role as The Chairman of The...

R.I.P. Martin Mull: 'Clue' & 'Roseanne' Star Dead at 80

Every Kevin Costner Movie Is A Western (Even When They're Not)

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ on Netflix, a Noir Sci-Fi Thriller That Bites Off More Than it Can Chew

Where to stream:.

In The Shadow Of The Moon (2019)

Netflix touts In the Shadow of the Moon as a “mindbender,” but it’s more of a genre-blender, an objectively ambitious mix of heady sci-fi, moody noir, perplexing mystery, blistering action, gooey melodrama and gory horror. That’s the creamy portion of this movie smoothie; lumpier is its string of revelatory, time-hopping sort-of-twists, which make describing it a potential spoiler landmine. So I hereby proceed with caution.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: The film opens with a wordless scene of urban destruction. It’s 2024. Buildings have been bombed; a modified American flag floats through the frame. Jump back to 1988: Our hero Locke (Boyd Holbrook) has a deep yearning to be more than just a graveyard-shift beat cop in Philadelphia. He desperately wants to hover over gruesome crime scenes, furrowing his brow and poking bodies with his clicky Bic ink pen like a seen-it-all detective in a drizzly David Fincher movie. His superior, Holt (Michael C. Hall), is also his brother-in-law, so he gives Locke a bit of leeway to sniff shell casings and mutter about the tragedy of the human condition and whatnot — all of which is tonally contrasted by his optimistic domestic scene, where his Very Pregnant Wife playfully chides him for making terrible pancakes.

One fateful night, Locke and his partner, Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine), zigzag across town, puzzling over bodies with hollow skulls because their brains liquified right out their orifices — which is approximately No. 1,262 on the list of pleasant ways to go. The perp is a ninjaesque young woman in a blue hoodie (Cleopatra Coleman), who Locke chases into a subway. A speeding train renders her asunder, which is approximately No. 1,263 on the list. Before Locke can take a breath, he learns his wife is in labor — and there are complications. By the end of the night, he’s a widower holding a cooing baby girl in his arms. Like I said, fateful night.

Jump ahead to 1997. Locke got his wish. He’s a detective now, with the mustache and everything, which gives him official jurisdiction to follow a fresh string of brain-liquifications perpetrated by the same hoodie-wearer. But isn’t she dead as hell? Cue Locke’s wild conspiratorial obsession, and scenes of mild parental neglect as he leaves his poor, sweet daughter to sleep on a couple of chairs in the cop shop while he chases — what, exactly? A ghost? A zombie? A something that you may have figured out by now, but I daren’t reveal lest I get waterboarded by spoiler cops? And will the narrative ever loop back to 2024? Mmmmmph!

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: I’d wager director Jim Mickle draws inspiration from Christopher Nolan, Philip K. Dick and the aforementioned Mr. Fincher. The film has the crazy-obsessive protagonist of Take Shelter , the moodiness of Seven and a fistful of components recalling Blade Runner , Terminator , and Looper . Those are its influences, at least. In the harsh light of day, it exists somewhere between medium-ambitious stuff like Source Code and The Adjustment Bureau , and mostly forgettable stuff like Jumper and Push .

Performance Worth Watching: Holbrook seems like a sincere, talented, Armie Hammerish actor who someday will play a second-tier superhero in a big franchise who’s not quite worthy of his own movie but might get a spinoff TV series, because that’s the measuring stick we use these days. He carries In the Shadow of the Moon capably, even when the narrative leaps forward years at a time and buries him under an insane hobo beard and Mickey Rourke-in- Barfly grease-mop.

Memorable Dialogue: “It’s happening again!” Locke exclaims, blandly reiterating what we already know: In the Shadow of the Moon is probably too much like too many movies we’ve seen before.

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: In the Shadow of the Moon opens strong with the 9/11-invoking framing device, and a series of gory intercut sequences in which a concert pianist, short-order cook, and bus driver suddenly start bleeding from their eyes and ears. It hooks us from the start, and we’re compelled to see it through, although it’s not all that exhilarating or rewarding. Mired in its conceptual weeds, it’s not nearly as narratively propulsive or suspenseful as it wants to be.

science fiction

Stream It Or Skip It: 'Time Bandits' On Apple TV+, Taika Waititi's Remake Of The '80s Film About A Kid With A Gang Of Time-Traveling Thieves

The 1996 ‘twister’ was a top-tier disaster flick that made science sexy, stream it or skip it: 'me' on apple tv+, where a kid goes to a new school and finds out he's a shapeshifter, stream it or skip it: 'sunny' on apple tv+, where a grieving woman and her homebot try to find out what happened to her husband and son.

The film rapidly becomes a series of familiarities and a grab-bag of half-baked ideas with a bland visual palette. Mickle ably manages the tone, which is not nothing, but more dynamic direction and less dead-seriousness in the face of its comic-booky flourishes would have given us a reason to forgive its flaws. The more we stick with it, the less convincing it is. Locke’s all-consuming obsession transforms him into a private dick in desperate need of a shower and a supercut; he lives out of his car, poring over his research and pulling on a flask, less Lincoln Lawyer, more Caprice Cuckoo. Was I supposed to chuckle? Probably not. But I did.

And please don’t ask what the title means, or what the movie’s thematic ambitions are. Conceptually, it’s partially realized at best, and confounding at worst. Of course, we shouldn’t desire explanations that render narratives and subtexts dull and lifeless. But we need less clutter and more clarity, which is evidence that In the Shadow of the Moon ultimately tries to do too much.

Oh, and one nitpick: I’m reasonably certain nobody used the word “hoodie” in 1988.

Our Call: SKIP IT. It’s nice to see Netflix taking chances — read: throwing money around — on the type of non-franchise genre stuff that barely sniffs theatrical venues nowadays. So it’s too bad In the Shadow of the Moon is sluggish and stiff in all the wrong places, more wheezy dud than engaging pop.

Should you stream or skip #InTheShadowOfTheMoon on @netflix ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) September 27, 2019

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba

Stream In the Shadow of the Moon on Netflix

Stream It Or Skip It

Kelly Ripa Admits To "Inappropriate" Backstage Interaction With Mark Consuelos On 'Live': "If We Weren't Married, I Would Probably Be Fired Right Now"

'House of the Dragon' Reveals Hugh the Hammer is the Son of Saera Targaryen, the Princess Who Became a Prostitute

Former 'DWTS' Pro Cheryl Burke Accuses Billy Ray Cyrus Of Kicking A Stage Manager During Rehearsal: "His Time Was Up After That"

'House of the Dragon' Season 2 Episode 7 Ending Explained: How Many Dragons Does Rhaenyra Have? "The Red Sowing" Explained

Bernadette Peters Rejects Kelly Ripa's Makeup Advice On 'Live': "I Look Like The Joker"

'Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles' Star Josh Flagg Reveals Whether He Sold His Childhood Dream Home After Buying It Unseen For $9.2 Million

Screen Rant

Netflix's in the shadow of the moon ending explained.

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Olivia Colman's Dark Comedy That Went Completely Under The Radar In 2023 Is Now Streaming

"i’m so bad at that": m. night shyamalan has 2 critically panned movies he won’t defend, continuing this john carpenter classic movie as a sequel show sounds genius.

Netflix's In The Shadow Of The Moon 's ending includes time travel, sacrifices and a lot more confusing plot devices besides. A twist-filled sci-fi neo-noir mystery about obsession and sacrifice that plays like a cross between 1995's 12 Monkeys and True Detective , In The Shadow Of The Moon is directed by Tim Mickle and stars Boyd Holbrook and Michael C. Hall.

In 1988 Philadelphia, Thomas Lockhart (Holdbrook) finds himself on the heels of a killer who can cause their victims' brains to melt out of their head using technology nobody can make heads or tails of. The story then jumps forward in nine-year intervals, charting Lockhart's prolonged and life-destroying efforts to find this murderer who keeps disappearing and re-appearing, each time providing a couple more clues as to the exact nature of what they're doing and how they're doing it.

Related: 15 Best Netflix Original Movies

The rabbit hole Lockhart falls down, almost dragging every member of his family down with him if not for Det. Holt (Hall), leads to some tragic revelations, and a chance for a new start for the aggrieved policeman. Here's everything you need to know about In The Shadow Of The Moon 's ending, and what the murderer's motivations were.

What Actually Happens At The End Of In The Shadow Of The Moon

In The Shadow Of The Moon 's ending brings about a full-circle resolution that plays on the central structure of the narrative. The film opens on a bombing in Philadelphia in 2024 before jumping back to 1988, where we meet Lockhart and his heavily pregnant wife, Jean. While on duty, Lockhart and his partner are called to a bus crash, where Lockhart discovers the victim had been killed by an injection to the back of the neck that somehow causes the aforementioned brain-melting. On the trail, they track the killer to a subway station, where Lockhart has an odd exchange with his suspect before she ends up being killed by an oncoming subway.

She tells Lockhart about his daughter, who was only just about to be born. When his wife passes away, Lockhart uses the case of this mysterious killer as a way of dealing with the grief of losing his wife. Jump forward to 1997, and another wave of brain-melting deaths occurs on the same day as nine years previous, and Lockhart, now a detective, figures it's the same woman, despite her dying in 1988. He stays on her trail, becoming more and more unbearable for those around him as he refuses to let up on his hair-brained theory that she's a time-traveler, and there's a connection among all her targets.

He gets his redemption in 2015, when he finally manages to meet her and the exact time and place her time-machine was landing. In the confrontation, she explains that she's his granddaughter, Rya, and her mission was stop a group of white supremacist terrorists from starting a new American civil war that tears the country apart. Lockhart had found out many of the people she killed were on the mailing list for the True America Movement, which, in 2024, bombed Philadelphia, the aftermath we see in the opening, and kicked off the race war.

Related: The 25 Best Films on Netflix Right Now

She's traveling back through time, working backwards through every time there's a blood moon, meaning this is her first meeting with him. The injections are triggered from the future, designed to reverse the war from happening by Dr. Naveem Rao, who designed the weapon and her time-travel pod. She encourages Lockhart to go meet his daughter, who's giving birth to Rya, as their future is now safe from the oncoming conflict. The final scene of In The Shadow Of The Moon is Lockhart holding baby Rya, as he's welcomed back by his estranged family.

How In The Shadow Of The Moon's Time Travel Works

Time travel is introduced midway through In The Shadow Of The Moon . In 1997, Lockhart and his then partner Maddox are visited by a Dr. Rao, who tries to explain to them that the suspect they're searching for is traveling through time via the lunar cycle. Every nine years, there is the real-world phenomenon of a “blood moon”, during which it becomes feasible to open a rift in time and space that someone can jump through. The detectives shrug away the possible explanation, but Dr. Rao would continue this work until he became not only successful, but the one who sends Rya on her mission.

The way the time travel is depicted in In The Shadow Of The Moon draws from ideas in a number of sci-fi staples, including the previously mentioned Twelve Monkeys and The Terminator : time is fixed, the characters can't change the past but only enable it.

Rya has to use a pod covered in piping and insulation that fills with water to transport herself, and she can seemingly only go one stop at a time in reverse order, so lands in 2015, then 1997 and so on. It's a clever plot-device, making her and Lockhart both the hero and villain, depending on the perspective you follow, and creating a heavy inevitability to the ultimate cadence of the story.

Related: Why Streaming Services Should Move Away From Bingeable Releases

Rya And Dr. Rao's Mission Changes The Past, But Can't Change Everything

The tragic part of In The Shadow Of The Moon 's ending is that by incidentally killing Rya in 1988, Lockhart created a fixed point in time that cannot be undone. The pair became stuck in a time-loop - she's only born because of the circumstances of her grandmother's death and what came after. In combining his unwavering need for closure on his wife's death and catching Rya, Lockhart lost almost everything in the ensuing 27 years, alienating his daughter and extended family. However, his daughter welcomes him back into her life when she's in labour, wanting him to see his first grandchild.

Rya's work stops the True America Movement from ever getting powerful enough to wreak havok, thus meaning everyone has a chance at a newer, better future. In a closing monologue, she discusses that Lockhart will live a life surrounded by love and forgiveness, and that what she's done gives everyone a second chance, never having to know how close we came to brink of pure devastation.

In The Shadow Of The Moon also reflects back on the real world more directly. Racist groups like the True America Movement have become emboldened over the last several years, and the way their beliefs are shown to be ingrained in generations of everyday people is a poignant way of highlighting the challenge of trying to overcome the tendrils of white supremacy. We can't rely on a time-travelling hero to reverse things if we let everything boil over. Instead, we have to build a better tomorrow now, and give ourselves the chance Lockhart almost didn't get.

Next: Netflix: The Best TV Shows & Movies This Weekend (September 27)

SR Originals

The Ending Of In The Shadow Of The Moon Explained

"In the Shadow of the Moon" is a Netflix original movie, released in 2019, blending the detective-mystery genre with sci-fi in an expansive story that stretches from 1988 all the way into the future. One dogged investigator dedicates his life to catching a serial killer that everyone else believes to be dead and who we later learn is capable of traveling through time. The script was written by Geoffrey Tock and Gregory Weidman, a screenwriting duo who had previously collaborated on the TV shows "Zoo" and "Limitless," and directed by Jim Mickle — working with the first major budget of his career after directing low-budget horror flicks like "Stake Land" and "We Are What We Are."

The film has caused plenty of confusion in the four years since its release, but not all of it stems from where you might expect. Some of the confusion is owed to the complexity of the film's time travel plot and its five-decade-spanning narrative, but other confusion also stems from the film's screenplay shortcomings and a couple of glaring plot holes. Let's dive in and try to clear up the ending of "In the Shadow of the Moon."

What you need to remember about the plot of In the Shadow of the Moon

The film focuses on Locke (Boyd Holbrook), an ambitious police officer aspiring to become a detective. We see him reach that goal only to lose his job and become estranged from his family when his obsession with catching a presumed-dead killer takes over his life. He dedicates about 40 years of his life to this pursuit while those in his personal life gradually write him off.

The killer that Locke obsesses over is Rya (Cleopatra Coleman), who is active throughout each of the film's chapters despite appearing to die in the first one set in 1988. While the police suspect there is a copycat of the original killer, Locke knows that Rya is responsible — even though that would seem logically impossible. At first, Locke thinks she must not have really died in 1988, but he eventually discovers the truth: that Rya is utilizing time travel.

The first person who floated the idea of the moon allowing time travel once every nine years was Naveen Rao (Rudi Dharmalingam). Rao was written off at first, but Locke eventually realizes that he was correct all along and more deeply connected to the killer's use of time travel than even Locke was aware of at the outset. The other important character to remember in order for the ending to make more sense is Locke's daughter Amy, played by both Quincy Kirkwood and Sarah Dugdale at different ages.

Keeping the timeline straight

Keeping this complicated timeline straight is necessary to properly make sense of the plot. The film opens with a brief prologue set in 2024 before jumping back to 1988. At this point in time, Locke and his partner Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine) are both police officers who step outside their lanes, acting like detectives and investigating the work of a new serial killer. Locke and Maddox have their first encounter with Rya, which leads to her death. At the end of this chapter, Locke's daughter Amy is born, and sadly his wife dies during childbirth.

The film then jumps to 1997, when Locke and Maddox are both working as detectives, and the same serial killings begin again. After confronting Rya a second time, Maddox is killed, and Locke learns about Rya's time travel.

In 2006, Locke is now unemployed after his obsession with the killer sees him start to unravel. He attempts to kill Rya but only manages to shoot her in the hand. He chases her to her time machine but is too late. Nine years later, Locke is there waiting for her in 2015 when the time machine reappears, at which point he learns the details of her plan and that she is his eventual granddaughter and Amy's current unborn daughter. Though the year is not called out like in the other chapters, there are also glimpses of a time further into the future as Rao implements the time travel plan to send Rya back and execute people from the future — which we can assume takes place in or around 2033 based on Rya's age when she is sent back.

Understanding the flow of time

The most important detail of "In the Shadow of the Moon" is that Locke and Rya are not experiencing the flow of time in the same way. The film is told solely from Locke's perspective, and he experiences the story linearly — just as everyone else experiences time. Rya, on the other hand, experiences the events of the film in reverse chronological order and only in brief intervals. Her story begins in the future, presumably around the year 2033. In this film's reality, the ability to time travel is directly tethered to the moon, which puts tight restrictions on Rya. She can only progress backward in nine-year leaps and remain in the past for brief windows before returning to the time machine.

Each time Rya returns to the time machine, she is brought directly to the next nine-years-earlier destination without returning to the future in between, which means that the film's entire narrative happens on a drastically compressed timeline from her perspective. Since Locke and Rya experience time in opposite ways, the things Locke does in the future affect the Rya he already saw in his past. For example, the wound Rya has on her hand in 1988 and 1997 is caused by Locke shooting her in 2006. Similarly, in their first encounter (from Locke's perspective) in 1988, Rya appears to apologize for hurting Maddox in the fight they just had. However, she is actually apologizing for killing him in 1997, which just happened for her but won't happen for Locke until nine years later.

What happened at the end of In the Shadow of the Moon

The climax of "In the Shadow of the Moon" takes place in 2015 when Locke catches Rya at gunpoint on the beach just outside of her time machine. This is their fourth confrontation from Locke's point of view but only the first from Rya's perspective. Her mission has only just started even though Locke has already spent most of his life pursuing her.

Rya explains who she is and shows Locke a charm bracelet that she says belonged to her mother. This is the same charm bracelet that Locke had given to his daughter Amy, and he comes to the realization that the person he has been pursuing for almost 40 years is his own granddaughter. Rya explains the full scope of her plan, which involves killing the various people who planted the seeds that would eventually blossom into acts of domestic terrorism and lead to millions of deaths.

Locke hears Rya out and finally understands that she was telling the truth all those years ago when she told him that the killings were for the greater good. He also comes to learn that he is the one who eventually convinces her to take on the mission in the first place many years in the future.

What the ending of In the Shadow of the Moon means

The ending monologue means that Rya — who has been presented as the film's villain — is actually the hero. That doesn't make Locke a secret villain. His intentions are still good, but he is unknowingly working against his own best interests for the entire film and attempting to kill his own granddaughter without realizing it.

Though her actions at first appear to be those of a serial killer, Rya is actually risking her life to undertake a dangerous mission for the good of humanity. Her ultimate goal is to prevent the millions of deaths that result from the eventual domestic terrorism and a second civil war in the future. Even more importantly, Rya is successful in her mission. It is crucial to understand that the 2024 future shown at multiple points in the film does not come to be after Rya succeeds in her mission. The final glimpse of the post-civil-war U.S. is shown in reverse, with the flames of destruction receding as the course of history is altered for the better because of Rya's actions.

The victims were all connected

Throughout the 1988 and 1997 chapters of the film, Rya's various victims appear to be completely random. It is explained that the police spent time digging into the lives of each victim and were unable to find any concrete links between them all. To fully understand the plot of "In the Shadow of the Moon," it is important to grasp that the police were incorrect in those assertions.

As Locke later discovers, the victims are all connected. The victims were tethered together through a shared ideology and as part of a burgeoning, radical political group. Rya's mission is to take out those particular individuals because they are the ones who become active participants in the domestic terrorism and second civil war efforts or are the first to plant dangerous ideas in the heads of their family members, who in turn cause violence and civil unrest in the future.

The plot isn't as complicated as it seems

Because of its use of time travel, its diverging perspectives, and its segmented narrative spread across many decades, the plot of "In the Shadow of the Moon" seems extremely complex at face value. In truth, the plot is actually quite simple, it is just told in a complicated manner. When boiled down, the core story of the film is basically the same plot as the first "The Terminator" movie, where a killer is sent back in time to eliminate the mother of the future resistance leader. In Rya's case, she has several targets instead of just one. The other key difference is that the Terminator's goal was to wipe out the future resistance, whereas Rya's goal to wipe out the opposing side of the future civil war is framed as heroic rather than evil.

Though the narrative backbone isn't all that complicated when you get right down to it, there is still plenty of room for confusion within "In the Shadow of the Moon." Rather than being confusing due to its complexity, some of the confusion stems from the film's plot holes and its lack of consistent internal logic.

The time travel doesn't add up

If you already understand the plot and the distinction between how Locke and Rya experience time but still find yourself confused, then it might be time to accept one of the film's biggest flaws: The time travel in "In the Shadow of the Moon" doesn't make perfect sense.

Partway through the film, Locke realizes that Rya is moving backward through time. He hears this from her directly and has proof from the gunshot wound he gives her in 2006 being present in 1988 and 1997. Given that he fully comprehends this fact, it does not make sense that killing Rya continues to be his goal, because if he ever succeeded he wouldn't have met her in the past.

Rya explicitly says, "If it begins with you warning me here on this beach, then it always ends with me dying." If this statement is true, as it appears to be based on everything that already happened and will happen, then nothing Rya does in the past matters as the future is already set in stone, rendering her entire mission fruitless. At the same time, this cannot possibly be true because her plan works out in the end, meaning the film's internal logic contradicts itself. Additionally, Locke is the one who convinces Rya to go on the mission, but he only does so because of what she says to him on the beach in the past, which can't happen if he doesn't convince her to go on the mission, which can't happen without her already going on the mission, and so on and so forth creating a chicken-and-egg paradox.

The assassinations are over-complicated

One plot detail that is likely to confuse viewers is the fact that the murders committed by Rya are actually carried out from the future, technically. Rya needs to approach each target in the past and inject them, but the assassinations themselves are remotely triggered in the future by Naveen Rao. This is confusing for two reasons, both of which the film would rather you didn't think about.

The first is that Rya needs to inject each victim with her three-pronged device before the executions can be carried out simultaneously. In the first chapter, one victim calls the police to report her forced injection. However, there is no explanation given for why she isn't executed until later when everyone else was killed in sync, nor why the other victims didn't report being attacked and forcibly injected.

The second question left hanging: why is this overcomplicated assassination process necessary in the first place? The idea of executing targets from the future makes sense on paper, but it stops being logical when an individual needs to travel back in time and physically attack each target in order for the plan to work. This renders the future-trigger component of the assassinations completely pointless as Rya may as well just inject each target with normal poison or kill each target through any other means. It also doesn't make much sense that everyone responsible for the second civil war is centralized around Philadelphia for Rya to easily reach, but this is clearly a film that does not want viewers scrutinizing its plot too closely.

Making sense of Rya's actions

Rya's motives and methods remain elusive for much of the movie. Trouble arises when it turns out that her actions make even less sense once the truth is revealed at the end. There are many choices made by Rya that don't add up in retrospect or upon rewatch, the most glaring of which is her deliberate choice to withhold information from Locke.

The first time Rya speaks with Locke on the beach — which is their final encounter of the film from Locke's perspective — she explains everything, unveiling her plan, her justifications, her methods, the future she is trying to avert, and the fact that she is his granddaughter. Explaining everything ends up working perfectly as it diffuses Locke's desire to kill her and gets him on board with her plan. Since this easily solved her problems, it calls all of Rya's actions into question as she moves further into the past, where Locke is still trying to kill her.

Rya spends the rest of the film being intentionally vague and avoiding any straight answers with Locke, despite the fact that she already knows how to diffuse his desire to kill her and get him on her side instead. She has no reason not to give the same explanation each time they meet further back in the past, which would make her job infinitely easier. Her decision to only tell him the first time she meets him — again, which is the last time they meet from Locke's and the audience's perspective — only makes sense externally as a way for the film to save its big twist for the ending, making it perhaps the largest plot hole in a film with quite a few to worry about.

What has the director said about the ending?

Director Jim Mickel spoke at length about the ending of "In the Shadow of the Moon" after the film's premiere screening at Fantastic Fest. He explained that, for him, the film actually has two endings, but one of them is placed near the start. Since Locke and Rya experience the flow of time in opposite directions, the starts and ends of their character arcs land at different points in the story chronologically. The conclusion to Locke's story and character arc is placed right at the close of the film, where endings traditionally always are.

Rya, on the other hand, has her ending in the film's opening act. Her character arc ends with her death in 1988 while Locke's arc is just getting started. Conversely, her character arc begins on the beach in 2015, right where Locke's ends. Mickle explained to Collider that these diverging character arcs drew him to the script, saying, "Her story is backward, his story is forward. So the first time that they meet, it's his first time meeting her, it's her fourth time meeting him. And by the end of the story, it's his fourth time meeting her and it's her first time meeting him... that was actually the hook that got me."

IMAGES

In the Shadow of the Moon
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
NSS Movie Review: In the Shadow of the Moon
In the Shadow of the Moon movie review: New Netflix film is a mind
Netflix Original In the Shadow of the Moon (Movie Review)
Netflix's In the Shadow of the Moon Review

VIDEO

Rebel Moon
Aytekin Ataş
The Moon Review Telugu
Shadow of the Moon 25th Anniversary
In the Shadow of the Moon Full Movie Fact in Hindi / Hollywood Movie Story / Jim Lovell
S.I.C. Limited Version

COMMENTS

In the Shadow of the Moon movie review (2019)
Sometimes a movie that is a bit of everything can end being not enough of anything. "In the Shadow of the Moon" isn't effective as sci-fi, action, noir, mystery, or even social commentary, even though it has elements of all of the above. What saves it from complete disaster is Mickle's technical skill—he washes the film in nice blues ...
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
Oct 4, 2019 Full Review Adam Graham Detroit News [W]hen you least expect it, "In the Shadow of the Moon" delivers a powerful message about the roots of hate and the dangers it poses to society ...
In the Shadow of the Moon
Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Oct 4, 2019. Roxana Hadadi Pajiba. In the Shadow of the Moon is inconsistently fascinating, often muddled, and totally ignorant of why time travel rules. Full ...
'In the Shadow of the Moon' Review: A Twisty Romp Through Time and
Most surprising of all, it's a time-travel movie, a sci-fi wrinkle that sneaks up on you amid the rest of the busyness. Directed by Jim Mickle ("Cold in July"), "In the Shadow of the Moon ...
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
In the Shadow of the Moon: Directed by Jim Mickle. With Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman, Bokeem Woodbine, Michael C. Hall. A Philadelphia police officer struggles with a lifelong obsession to track down a mysterious serial killer whose crimes defy explanation.
In the Shadow of the Moon Movie Review
Parents need to know that In the Shadow of the Moon is a cautionary sci-fi fantasy in which a cop discovers that a killer from the future is coming to attack Philadelphia citizens every nine years. Chasing this killer upends his life. Political undertones straight from today's headlines abound, with the….
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019 film)
United States. Language. English. In the Shadow of the Moon is a 2019 American science fiction thriller film directed by Jim Mickle and written by Gregory Weidman and Geoff Tock. It stars Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman, and Michael C. Hall. It had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 21, 2019, before it was released on Netflix on ...
Film Review: 'In the Shadow of the Moon'
The movie, which is two hours long, galumphs through five different time periods that are spaced nine years apart (1988, 1997, 2006, 2015, and 2024). In each one we learn a little bit more about ...
'In the Shadow of the Moon': Film Review
Boyd Holbrook and Michael C. Hall star in 'In the Shadow of the Moon,' Jim Mickle's sci-fi thriller about a time-hopping serial killer. If time-travel movies give you a headache (as well they ...
In the Shadow of the Moon Review: Ambitious, Genre-Bending ...
Likewise, In the Shadow of the Moon taps into racial and socio-political themes that give the film timeliness but feel underexplored. These topics have become hyper-relevant and thoroughly ...
In the Shadow of the Moon Review
U. Original Title: In the Shadow of the Moon. Of the 12 human beings who actually set foot on another world, only nine are still with us. In David Sington's wonderful documentary, the remaining ...
Netflix's In the Shadow of the Moon Review
New Netflix movie is a police procedural with a time-travel twist. This was reviewed out of Fantastic Fest. In the Shadow of the Moon debuts on Netflix on Sept. 27. In the Shadow of the Moon is a ...
In the Shadow of the Moon Movie Review
Parents need to know that this documentary mentions the riots and upheavals of the 1960s, as well as the dangers of the Apollo moon flights, with much time devoted to the launch-pad fire that killed three astronauts on the ground. There is also Buzz Aldrin's revelation that he urinated inside his space suit on….
Netflix's In the Shadow of the Moon plays smart tricks with time
In the Shadow of the Moon launched on Netflix on September 27th, 2019. Jim Mickle's new Netflix film, starring Boyd Holbrook as a cop dealing with a time-traveling killer, is a clumsy effort at ...
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
7/10. Crime thriller with a twist. cruise01 28 September 2019. In the Shadow of the Moon (3.5 out of 5 stars). In the Shadow of the Moon is a pretty decent crime thriller film with a bit hint of sci fi concept and some decent action thrills. The plot starts out like a simple crime thriller.
In the Shadow of the Moon
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 2, 2007. Jamie Russell Film4. A timely tribute to the 12 men who landed on the moon during the 1960s and 1970s. The remastered, rediscovered documentary ...
In The Shadow Of The Moon review: Netflix delivers Terminator noir
Just a few weeks before Terminator: Dark Fate hits theaters, a new movie about a time-traveling killer going back to the past to murder some people is now out on Netflix. In The Shadow of The Moon ...
In the Shadow of the Moon
In 1988, Philadelphia police officer Thomas Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook), hungry to become a detective, begins tracking a serial killer who mysteriously resurfaces every nine years. But when the killer's crimes begin to defy all scientific explanation, Locke's obsession with finding the truth threatens to destroy his career, his family, and possibly his sanity. [Netflix]
In the Shadow of the Moon Review
Overall In the Shadow of the Moon is tantalizing, provocative and exhilarating. It is the kind of movie you want to watch twice as new subtleties and nods to themes rear their faces in hindsight. The movie explores themes of race, politics and civil war whilst daringly wrapping their entire meaning in themes of time travel, dimension, and reality.
'In The Shadow Of The Moon' Review: A Genre Mash-Up Of Sci-Fi ...
In the Shadow of the Moon is a film doing battle with itself - it wants to be all things to all people, but sometimes, less is more. /Film Rating : 6 out of 10 Recommended
In the Shadow of the Moon
In 1961, NASA started its Apollo program to realize President John F. Kennedy's dream of putting a man on the moon. This documentary retells the story of the program's mission through archival ...
In The Shadow Of The Moon Ending Explained: Time Is Not A Flat ...
After the opening, we jump back in time to 1988, where Lockie, an ambitious Philadelphia cop is introduced, investigating a serial murder case alongside his partner, Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine). All ...
'In the Shadow of the Moon' Netflix Review: Stream It or Skip It?
Our Take: In the Shadow of the Moon opens strong with the 9/11-invoking framing device, and a series of gory intercut sequences in which a concert pianist, short-order cook, and bus driver ...
Netflix's In The Shadow Of The Moon Ending Explained
Netflix's In The Shadow Of The Moon's ending includes time travel, sacrifices and a lot more confusing plot devices besides. A twist-filled sci-fi neo-noir mystery about obsession and sacrifice that plays like a cross between 1995's 12 Monkeys and True Detective, In The Shadow Of The Moon is directed by Tim Mickle and stars Boyd Holbrook and Michael C. Hall.
The Ending Of In The Shadow Of The Moon Explained
By Sam Kench / July 29, 2023 6:15 am EST. "In the Shadow of the Moon" is a Netflix original movie, released in 2019, blending the detective-mystery genre with sci-fi in an expansive story that ...
What Is The Frenzied Flame In Elden Ring?
The best sense you get of its power is in The Shadow Realm, more notably the Abyssal Woods. Here the forest has been altered, with the only creatures left alive having the signature glowing eyes ...

Movie Reviews

Brian Tallerico

Now playing

Glenn Kenny

Space Cadet

Trigger Warning

A Sacrifice

National Anthem

Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge

In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)

Cinematographer

Latest blog posts

Women in Blue is Good at Suspense, Medium at Feminism

Fantasia 2024: Chainsaws Were Singing, Dark Match, Scared Shitless

Justin Baldoni Wants You to Believe

The Future Was Now Warps Through the Seminal Sci-Fi Summer of 1982

‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ Review: A Twisty Romp Through Time and Genre

Film Review: ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’

Owen Gleiberman

Related Stories

Popular on Variety

Reviewed online, Sept. 23, 2019. Running time: 115 MIN.

More from Variety

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

site categories

Frank Scheck

Related Stories

THR Newsletters

More from The Hollywood Reporter

'In the Shadow of the Moon' Review: An Ambitious Genre-Bender with Too Much Netflix Polish

How Marvel Jesus Saved the MCU at the Box Office With 'Deadpool & Wolverine'

In the Shadow of the Moon Review

Netflix's In the Shadow of the Moon Review

Netflix Spotlight: September 2019

The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies

In This Article

Where to Watch

In the Shadow of the Moon Review: Netflix's Time-Travel Thriller

More Reviews by Chris Tilly

Or browse by category:

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Common Sense Selections for Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

How to Talk with Kids About Violence, Crime, and War

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

A Lot or a Little?

Positive Messages

Violence & Scariness

Products & Purchases

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Parents Need to Know

Where to Watch

Community Reviews

What's the Story?

Is It Any Good?

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Suggest an Update

Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon

Netflix’s In the Shadow of the Moon plays smart tricks with time

Share this story

WHAT’S THE GENRE?

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

WHAT’S IT REALLY ABOUT?

IS IT GOOD?