'ANGELA'S SHADOW' REVIEW: A Big, Historical-Supernatural Swing [2/5]
Jules Koostachin's Historical Drama Misses Most of Its Targets, and That's Too Bad
[Rating 2/5] - dir. Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin - 2024 - Canada - NR - 1h 33m - Historical Drama
Racism, sexism, classism, spirituality, and the supernatural are all at the fore of Canadian actor-writer-director Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin’s well-intentioned new effort Angela’s Shadow.
Set in the early 1900s, Angela, a young woman, is pregnant and on the verge of marrying into Ottawa’s white upper class. She learns she is Cree after visiting her old nanny who lives on a remote reserve. The truth and Angela’s interest in exploring it threaten to ruin her relationship with her purity-obsessed white husband, the life she’d worked hard to build, and the social access it granted her.
Ultimately, Angela’s Shadow is a pointed, sometimes brutal slice of Canadian historical fiction.
But it doesn’t feel alive.
The acting lacks conviction and the film lacks a consistent aesthetic and tone. These are fundamentals.
I appreciate where it’s aiming, but Angela’s Shadow misses most of its targets.
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Angela’s Shadow is playing in theatres starting December 6, 2024.
Selected Movie Quote: “It just doesn’t feel like it’s time to go.”
[Rating 2/5] - dir. Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin - 2024 - Canada - NR - 1h 33m - Historical Drama