In the throes of World War II, on a rainy morning in Auckland, New Zealand, a group of Allied soldiers prepare to take to the air in a rickety B-17 Flying Fortress dubbed Fool’s Errand.

The all-male crew is caught off guard by Flight Officer Maude Garrett (Chloë Grace Moretz, Let Me In, Greta) boarding their plane carrying a top-secret package. The presence of a woman on a military flight is unusual enough and she is almost immediately the target of sexist jokes from her male cohorts. But just as her capabilities, quick wit and military expertise is beginning to win over this skeptical crew, strange happenings and discrepancies in her backstory lead to distrust surrounding her true mission. However, it soon becomes clear that they are not alone in the sky, as lurking in the shadows, something is out there, an evil presence, that threatens to tear the plane apart in mid-air. Caught between an oncoming Japanese ambush and an entity lurking within, Maude is strong enough and has the grit to save this ill-fated squad and also protect her mysterious cargo.

Shadow in the Cloud is a one woman show for Chloë Grace Moretz, who takes over this action packed supernatural horror film, which is also a satisfying genre ride that also addresses gender politics, power, abuse and the perils of being a woman in a male-dominated workplace.

Roseanne Liang  |  New Zealand/USA  |  2020  |  83 mins.