The Shepherd

The Shepherd is Disney's attempt at Christmas ghost story. In the style of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories.

It is inspired from a novella from thriller iter Frederick Forsyth.

Ben Radcliffe plays the young RAF pilot flying over the North sea on Christmas Eve in 1957. His father too was in the air force who was shot down in World War 2.

Only the pilot encounters electrical issues, he loses communication and he is low on fuel. With no contact on the radio, total cloud cover and a few minutes of fuel remaining. He has no options but to say his prayers, have flashbacks to better days.

Suddenly he sees an old Mosquito plane and a pilot who will shepherd him to a runway.

The short film written and directed by Iain Softley is a tribute to the shepherds of the air during World War 2 that guided lost planes.

It is beautiful to look at, predictable with an emotional ending. I wonder if this would had been even more effective if it was shorter.