Shepherd – Great Atmospheric Horror
Director: Russell Owen
Writer: Russell Owen (Screenplay)
Starring: Kate Dickie, Tom Hughes, Jamie Marie Leary, Greta Scacchi, Gaia Weiss
Plot: A young Scottish shepherd, following the death of his unfaithful wife, fights to maintain his own sanity when the past catches up to him.
Tagline – Red Sky is Mourning.
Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Shepherd starts when Eric Black (Hughes) and his dog Baxter look to escape life after the death of his unfaithful wife, taking a job as a shepherd on a remote island of the coast of Scotland.
As Eric looks to learn about the island, he finds himself getting visited by a creature that will leave him questioning his own sanity about what is happening and what is real.
Thoughts on Shepherd
Characters & Performances – Eric is the grieving husband who has not only lose his wife, but learnt about her betrayal, he looks to escape from his life to regroup on a remote island as a shepherd, but here he starts to lose his mind, questioning his own sanity about what is going on and what happened in the past. Tom Hughes is carrying this film with his performance showing the different mindset his character is going through. We only get glimpses of the other characters, with the creature figure stalking Eric being the most involved next character in the film.
Story – Shepherd follows a man trying to escape from his life on a remote island, he will find his past starting to catch up with him, causing him to lose his own mindset. Shepherd will look to tackle grief and guilt showing the way it can take a toll on somebody’s life, doing an excellent job at showing the troubles his mind is putting him through. A lot of the story is about Eric trying to figure out what is going on, going through his memories, but you will be kept engaged, wanting to know what will happen with his journey throughout.
Themes – Shepherd is a horror thriller that is filled with tensions with the scares coming from the figure haunting Eric’s past, the remote location will show how isolated Eric will find himself during a time when he needs people around him. Shepherd will fill us with shocking images for what is the worst thing that Eric could imagine.
Final Thoughts – Shepherd is a tense horror thriller, filled with tension in every scene.
