Dive into the mind-bending world of Netflix's 'In the Shadow of the Moon', a sci-fi thriller that will leave you questioning reality. This neo-noir masterpiece takes you on a journey through time, where a serial killer emerges once every nine years, leaving victims with bizarre puncture wounds and bleeding from their eyes. But is this a human killer or an alien entity? Or is it all just a figment of our protagonist's imagination?
The story begins in 1988 Philadelphia, where rookie cop Thomas Lockhart is introduced. He and his partner, Maddox, are on a routine night shift when a series of bizarre murders unravels before them. The victims are found with puncture wounds and catastrophic brain hemorrhages, leaving the police force baffled. As the investigation unfolds, Thomas receives a warning from an unknown source, predicting the death of his pregnant wife, Jean.
Fast forward to 1997, and Thomas is a widowed detective struggling to raise his young daughter. The same pattern of murders resurfaces, and this time, a physicist named Naveen joins the investigation, suggesting a connection to time travel. Thomas, Maddox, and Lieutenant Holt dismiss the theory, but the nine-year cycle continues, and Thomas becomes obsessed with solving the case.
By 2006, Thomas has left the force and is working as a private investigator, still chasing answers. In 2015, he is a shell of his former self, but he refuses to let go of the case. The pattern persists, and Thomas remains the only one who refuses to let it go.
While the premise is ambitious and the neo-noir vibe is compelling, the execution could have been better. The 1988 and 1997 sequences lack the texture that sells those eras, and the absence of smartphones in the 80s felt more like a nitpick than a period piece. However, Boyd Holbrook's physical portrayal of a man slowly losing everything in pursuit of answers is the selling point of the show.
'In the Shadow of the Moon' is a time-spanning character study that is messy in places but undeniably intriguing. It's currently streaming on Netflix, ready for anyone who wants their crime dramas with a side of lunar-induced chaos.
