Shadow of God Review

Shadow of God review

Shadow of God turns things upside down…and finds the same result.

New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.

Shadow of God

Directed by Michael Peterson

Written by Tim Cairo

Starring Mark O’Brien, Jacqueline Byers, Shaun Johnston, Adiran Hough, Josh Cruddas, Barb Mitchell and David Freehan

Shadow of God Review

The recent release of Shudder original Shadow of God feels like an appropriate time to discuss how 2025 has looked the horror streamer thus far. We’ll be looking, specifically, at the original feature films added to the service. You should know that it has a fine catalog of older titles and a once-a-month episode of The Last Drive In that is always worth seeking out. The state of Shudder original features (or, in some cases, new films that serve as Shudder exclusives) has been an interesting topic for the last few years. When parent company AMC made large budget cuts to all their divisions…it was a cause for concern. Shudder’s 2024 offerings put a lot of that worry to rest immediately. Four of our top ten horror movies of last year were exclusive to the service.

But that was last year. 2025 has had no shortage of Shudder original content as we sit a third of the way through the year. It is, however, still searching for anything on the level of last year’s bounty. Late Night with the Devil, MadS, Oddity and Stopmotion all cracked the best of the best for 2024. Only one of this year’s offerings looks to have a chance at that status four months into the year. The Dead Thing sits atop the 2025 Shudder releases at the moment. Of course, there’s plenty of time left for that to change. Three of last year’s winers didn’t hit until May or later.

The point of this isn’t to say that Shudder is putting out content unworthy of your time. If I were to use a term to describe the first third of 2025 on Shudder…I’d call it “pretty good”. 825 Forest Road, Dark Match, Grafted and The Rule of Jenny Pen…they’re all…pretty good. Get Away fares slightly better thanks to its wonderful third act. Recent theatrical release (eventually joining the service as an exclusive) Ash falls somewhere between The Dead Thing and Get Away in quality…which isn’t a bad place to sit. The point of this long diatribe is that even without the high-end quality releases (so far) this year…there’s a high floor on the films that Shudder curates for its subscribers. Shadow of God may be that floor.

I admit…that was a long road to get to that opinion. The truth is that I don’t have that much to say about Shudder’s latest release. That’s not a good place to start a review from. Shadow of God is an exorcism movie that turns some tropes upside down and discovers what 99% of exorcism movies that play things straight already know. William Friedkin got the exorcist movie right the first time…and everyone has just been spinning their wheels ever since. There are exceptions, of course. Shadow of God isn’t one of them. It’s…fine. There are narrative choices to be respected. Mark O’Brien gives a great lead performance as Mason Harper. No matter how you dress it up, however…we’re still looking at another underwhelming exorcism movie.

I can list off several plot points that will make Shadow of God sound more exciting than it is. Exorcists are dropping like flies. Our main characters have escaped a cult. Mason’s dead father returns and is seemingly possessed. That possession may be by a divine entity instead of the traditional demon. It all sounds great, doesn’t it?

The problem Shadow of God runs into is the same one that most religious horror movies do. Even when you’re trying to innovate a subgenre as much as this film is…you feel like you’ve seen it all before. Shadow of God attempts to turn the regular exorcism/religious horror movie on its head…and it amounts to feeling the same as the rest…just with an upside down cross instead.

If religious horror movies are your thing…Shadow of God may be right up your alley. It’s a good-looking movie. O’Brien is more than capable of holding your attention. It utilizes some…interesting special effects. I was reminded of some of the work in Twin Peaks: The Return. The desired effect is there…even if it looks extremely odd. There’s a competent religious horror movie here. One that attempts to innovate a tired subgenre and only ends up proving that even when you try to say something new…there’s simply nothing left to say.

Scare Value

Despite the tone of this review…Shadow of God isn’t a bad movie. Its biggest issues aren’t even its fault. It takes a new angle on a tired genre…throws in a top-notch lead performance, some interesting effects and very confident directing. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to escape the shadow of the underwhelming genre it tries to innovate on. If you’re not tired of religious horror movies…your mileage may vary. If you are…Shadow of God is still a decent watch. But…ultimately…an underwhelming one.

2.5/5