Voice of Shadows (2023) – Movie Review

Voice of Shadows, 2023.

Written and Directed by Nicholas Bain.
Starring Guillermo Blanco, Corrinne Mica, Bee Vang, Michael Paul Levin, and Martin Harris.

SYNOPSIS:

A young priest tries to prevent his dark past from repeating itself when his girlfriend inherits an estate where she needs to abide by eccentric stipulations for the deal to go through.

The leap of faith needed to go into the priesthood and offer oneself to the devotional duties involved is given a respectful view in this enjoyable paranormal meets religious paranoia feature. Following young priest Gabriel (Guillermo Blanco) and his girlfriend Emma (Corrine Mica) as they take over the keys to her recently passed away Great Aunt Emma’s rural house, the shadows of the past loom large over this suitably gothic story.

When we are first introduced to Gabriel, he’s in the confession booth, reliving a past trauma that we later learn led him to take his vows in the first place. He clearly has an uneasy relationship with his chosen career, and given the dark and shrouded climate he finds himself in, it’s not entirely surprising. Gabriel and Emma, who met each other in Gabriel’s home country, have a small rented accommodation that they also share with Gabriel’s younger sister Celeste (María José Vargas Agudelo).

When the three inspect Great Aunt Milda’s home, they are keen to make a go of it. However, warning signs soon emerge, especially when the mysterious lawyer Ernesto (Martin Harris) appears. He states that Emma has to follow some strict stipulations, one of which is that Gabriel cannot live there with her. An angry Gabriel refuses to leave, and eventually Ernesto says he’ll overlook the first night. However, a ghostly presence certainly doesn’t like the idea and bellows ‘Get out,’ in the middle of the night. 

Soon after this, both Emma and the spiritually sensitive Celeste begin to behave strangely around the house. This coincides with the appearance of two weird priests who are linked to Milda’s shrouded backstory. Events then begin to spiral out of control, with further clashes between Ernesto and Gabriel bringing out a demonic force that leads Gabriel to have to decide how to save himself, his partner and his sister.  

Overall this is a decidedly atmospheric and creepy tale. Beautifully shot and well-acted, the story is given sufficient space to explore the tensions between the characters and the trauma of their backgrounds. Guillermo Blanco in particular holds the story together with his tortured holy man effectively displaying a crisis of faith. 

A criticism that may well come up for horror fans is that bar one or two jumps, it’s not actually all that scary. Instead, there is more of a melancholic weirdness, which, to my mind, works pretty well given the subject matter of exorcisms, corrupt church officials and demonic forces.  

Voice of Shadows will arrive on digital and streaming platforms in the UK on December 2, and is currently available on all major streaming platforms in the US.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★  / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert W Monk

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