SHADOW OF GOD on Shudder is a new horror movie with an exorcism plot. However, this time, it’s different. Both the priest performing the ritual and the actual possession are unconventional. Read our full Shadow of God horror movie review here!
SHADOW OF GOD is a new Shudder horror movie starring Mark O’Brien. I wasn’t sure what to expect and, having watched the movie, I’m still uncertain about a few elements. I do, on the other hand, feel confident that I would’ve given this movie 2½ stars out of 5 if we did halves.
The movie has an average IMDb rating of under 4, as of writing this, which is wildly misrepresenting the quality of it. Instead, it probably has more to do with the content, which isn’t for everyone. And I’m still not sure it’s for me either, but it was a well-made movie.
Continue reading our Shadow of God horror movie review below. Find it on Shudder from April 11, 2025.
When exorcists start dying, something is up
In Shadow of God, we begin (as is often the case with exorcism movies) while our main protagonist is performing an exorcism. It does not end well, which turns out to be a theme for the Vatican in those exact moments.
In strange – to put it mildly – ways, several Vatican exorcists are being killed simultaneously. Or, at the very least, within minutes or hours of one another.
Father Mason Harper (Mark O’Brien) is a renegade type of Vatican exorcist who needs a breather after that opening scene. He returns to his childhood home, which floods his mind with memories and even visions. Or are they visions?!
He’s planning to spend some time with his childhood friend, Tanis Green (Jacqueline Byers), while waiting for new orders from the church. This is when we find out more about both their lives. They grew up in a cult and escaped together – mostly Tanis made sure they got out.
Life after a cult
After leaving the cult, she turned to the army, while he turned to the Church. Now she works as a psychiatrist with PTSD veterans, and he’s an exorcist for the Vatican. Quite a crazy life for both of them despite their young age.
I would watch an entire movie about their life in the cult. And also, how they escaped and the time after this. The origin story of these two characters, which admittedly is covered successfully in flashbacks, was extremely fascinating to me.
In any case, they’re now both back in the town, where the cult was run by Mason’s father, Angus. Mason believed his father was dead – especially because he saw him die – but now Angus reappears. Not to hurt Mason, but rather to warn him.
Possessed by something holy?
Angus is very different now and states that he was wrong about everything. With what Mason knows now, as an exorcist, he believes his father is possessed. However, not by a demon or the devil, but possibly something from the other end of the spectrum.
In other words, he suspects something holy and all-powerful is trying to come to Earth via his father’s body.
This might sound intriguing and like the “second coming”, but if that’s the case, then it’s nothing like what you’d expect. It’s quite terrifying, and everyone seems confused by this drastic and strange turn of events.
Watch Shadow of God on Shudder
Michael Peterson is the director of Shadow of God, and I really enjoyed his 2018 movie Knuckleball, so I’m always ready for more from him. Even as a producer, he has impressed me. Like with the 2019 movie Harpoon. He’s also a producer on this latest movie.
The screenplay comes from Tim Cairo, who also has a resume with something I loved. For him, it was the survival horror movie Dark Nature (2022), which has an average IMDb rating of just 4.4, and I have no idea why that is. I just know I disagree with it.
The runtime of Shadow of God is just shy of 90 minutes, which worked well for it. The special effects, however, I’m still unsure about. It’s obviously a very deliberately chosen style, which reminded me of something from the 1990s. Not my cup of tea, but it didn’t ruin it for me either.
Shadow of God begins streaming on Shudder on April 11, 2025.
Details
Director: Michael Peterson
Writer: Tim Cairo
Stars: Mark O’Brien, Jacqueline Byers, Shaun Johnston, Adrian Hough, Josh Cruddas
Plot
When several of his fellow Vatican exorcists are simultaneously killed, Father Mason Harper returns to his childhood home to spend time with childhood friend while he awaits orders from the Church. However, this small town holds dark secrets about Mason’s past and the religious organization once run by his father, Angus. Thought dead, Angus reappears, forcing a reunion between father and son. But Angus is different now, and before long, Mason suspects he’s possessed, not by the devil, but by something… holy. When Mason attempts to exorcise the presence from his father, he sets off a chain of events that may end in a cataclysm of biblical proportions testing everything he holds sacred.
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