She's Just a Shadow

I stumbled upon the 2019 movie "She's Just a Shadow" by random chance in 2021, and I must admit that I was immediately drawn to it, as the movie's cover is rather interesting. So of course I sat down to watch this, not knowing what I was in for, nor what to expect.

And wow, this movie was atrocious. It was an artsy-fartsy kind of movie trying to imitate movies made by Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez, but writer and director Adam Sherman, whom is behind "She's Just a Shadow", just didn't have the particular grace or style that was being imitated.

"She's Just a Shadow" was essentially a movie glorifying the intake of illegal substances, prostitution and promiscuities, oh, and violence. And I must admit that I just found it difficult to wrap my head around the excessive use of rhinestones on the faces of the women in the movie, and the weird make-up with the tanned faces and white circles around the eyes. And "She's Just a Shadow" just had way too much focus on showing off naked women. Sure, this has appeal with a younger audience I suppose, but if you are sitting down to watch "She's Just a Shadow" with the hopes of it being a proper movie, you are in for a rude awakening.

I found absolutely nothing appealing or interesting here, and I gave up on the story about halfway through. By that time I had just had enough of pointless nudity, drug abuse scenes, and a whole lot of actual nothing going on. Talk about a swing and a miss from writer and director Adam Sherman.

And if "She's Just a Shadow" was supposed to take place in Japan, why is everyone speaking English? Even the news reporters on TV were speaking English. Nay, there was no credibility to this aspect of the movie.

The characters in the movie were pointless to me, as they were either just naked, selling themselves for drugs or money, or partaking in the usage of illegal substances. So yeah, there was nothing worthwhile here in terms of properly written characters with depth or appeal. And the mediocre dialogue wasn't exactly selling the characters either.

As for the acting in the movie, well for the most parts, then the performances put on were actually fair enough and adequate, considering the absolute lack of proper storyline and script here. But you will not find yourself in for an evening of Shakespearian performances, that's for sure.

"She's Just a Shadow" is not a movie that I will ever return to watch again, in an attempt to finish the last half of the movie. No, the movie just failed to entertain me or provide me with any sense of enjoyment. This was a waste of my time, money and effort.

I am rating "She's Just a Shadow" a two out of ten stars, and that is based solely on the production value of the movie. Ultimately, then the movie's cover and poster was actually the best thing about the entire movie.

Often times a movie is bad and that is the end of it. I have never seen a movie that is so compelling aesthetically, yet so vapid plot wise.

Every character is, for the most part, a terrible person. Some just happen to be out protagonists. Women are naked throughout the entirety of the film, to the extend that you become entirely desensitized to it by the half hour mark. In fact it was far more intriguing as to why characters wore close at all.

The film is icky, disturbing and gross. Bloody but not violent. Lots of nudity but no sex. The world is bleak, but since everyone we meet sucks it's hard to feel that bad for them. There's no grounding point. Technically, the script isn't terrible, at least minute to minute. Beat to beat however, it becomes clear the movie's overall focus it it's edgy set pieces and its dark aesthetics because the plot is not even boilerplate.

It's an interesting idea, premise wise and aesthetically. Decent in small doses. Terrible as a movie.

Everything about this movie is highly stylized, which automatically means that everything about it is going to be intentionally over the top. If you understand this and keep it in mind while you watch, it makes the experience a good one. If you're a person who only watches "normal" movies, however, then this will seem like trash to you. It's a shame, from the movie's rating, that there are obviously a lot of people out there who don't understand this.

This is what happens when you grow up in Tromaville and become a filmmaker. Imagine starting with Ichi the Killer and mixing in Scarface, Spun, Showgirls, and Summer of Sam while reading 50 Shades of Grey and you should be able to smell how this movie is. To say that this won't appeal to everybody is an understatement, but that has never determined whether a film is worth seeing. Despite the amount of time spent on scenes consisting mainly of nudity and drug use there is a story that unwinds as you go with a lump sum delivery in the last 10 minutes. Production value overall is good and the players skilled enough to deliver their dialogue naturally with the correct posture. If you are at all on the fence I would say give it a watch, you were curious enough to read this review so don't stop short here.

A world full of sleaze, full of blood and nudity. Filth some may say and the "underground" that is shown here is morally bankrupt to say the least. With an added side story of a pervert who has a train and serial killer obsession. That may be putting it mildy. And yet, the movie looks gorgeous! And that is not a pun nor a reference to all the beautiful people who act in this (mostly nude).

Cinematography is tight to say the least. While the story may not be enticing to some, remember how some were cherising Giallo movies and made a big deal out of them? This makes more sense than some (if not most) of them. So while this is not an "homage" per se, you may watch it with that in mind. It tries to shock and it probably succeeds to some degree, but it also has a convoluted story that will either annoy you or entice you for being so out there ...