A current trend in modern genre cinema sees an entire plot revolve around a character who spends almost the entire film exclusively on their own. This person often tends to be grieving in some way and opts to relocate to a remote location to deal with their issue. Once committed to their self-imposed isolation, strange events begin to occur and as their fragile mind collapses, reality slips and the horror of the piece is exposed. This tried and tested formula provides the exact foundation upon which Russell Owen’s Shepherd is built.
In Shepherd, the viewer is introduced to Eric Black (Tom Hughes), a broken man dealing with the death of his wife. Determined to not live with the ghosts, bad dreams, and memories that surround him, Eric agrees to a job as a shepherd on a nearby remote island. With only his dog Baxter for company, Eric quickly finds his problems increased tenfold when the island itself begins to play tricks on him. Can he survive, or will his resolve (and psyche) finally shatter into a thousand pieces.
An interesting point in Shepherd, one that differentiates itself slightly from the pack, is that Eric is already troubled before heading to the island. Within the aforementioned trend, the convention tends to wait until arrival at the new location to bring in the horror, but Owen infuses these elements from the beginning. Very early on it is conveyed to the audience that Eric is a man plagued by nightmarish visions and hallucinations. Having them present from the opening stage helps unsettle the viewer from the outset, immediately catching them off guard. Once this mood has been established, Owen can continue to knead and tease the viewer into some unexpected moments.
A slow burn narrative that concentrates on a singular character means that Shepherd has to rely on other tricks to pass the time. In lieu of conversations and exposition, Owen lets the cinematography and film music do the story-telling. The visuals are rich with vast valleys and foreboding skies, their greenery though is choked through a thick veil of mist and fog, ramping the eeriness tenfold. Through its appearance alone, Shepherd earns its genre stripes, with Callum Donaldson’s dread-soaked score backing it up perfectly.
A solo led film that is quiet and atmospheric, Shepherd is yet another film in an ever-expanding subgenre. Whilst the look and feel of it hold up against the competition, there’s a tad too much isolation, opening the story up to chasms of inactivity which allow the odd bout of boredom to set in.
Shepherd
Summary
An atmospheric setting does much of the heavy-lifting in this slowest of slow burns. Shepherd is hiding a couple of searing images within its foggy landscape, but the isolation of the piece becomes its undoing.
Shepherd will be available on Blu-ray and Digital Download from 21st February.
