Above the Shadows (2019)

Elevator Pitch: Holly is the middle one of three children in an American New Engand family, and her mother’s favourite, but after her mother dies when she is twelve, people cease to notice her and she gradually becomes invisible. In adulthood she becomes a celebrity paparazzi, because she can take photos without being seen. But then in a nightclub, Shayne, a bouncer sees her and speaks to her. They have a connection, he is a cage fighter whose career she destroyed when she photographed him being unfaithful to his filmstar girlfriend. She decides that she will restore his persona, but as she does, while his life changes, so does hers.

Content: No nudity at all, but just bit of groping in the dark by the main players. Initially quite a bit of voice-over as Holly describes the tragedy in her family when she was 12  and the resulting change in her life. We can see her, she is not exactly invisible its just that no-one notices her, no matter what. Since Shayne is a cage fighter there is quite a bit of that, and his opponents are contact sport champions of one sort or another (in real life). Holly occasionally visits her family members; her sister is obsessed with her physical self which is a problem when she becomes pregnant, and her brother, now a twenty-something, lives in the basement of the family house and videos the legs of passing girls.

A View: This outing was only reviewed by seven critics who were not quite equally divided in their views. Probably it does not quite work, and Holly’s explanation as to what is happening and why, towards the end is unconvincing. But it comes close and remains watchable throughout, which is more than we can say for several of my recent viewings. Olivia Thirbly? Check her out as Judge Anderson in Dredd. The COVID-19 lockdown has resulted in a lot of  very minor productions making it to our TV screens, and this is one. It has won awards, important at least to the producers. So worth watching for nothing, although Megan Fox fans might be disappointed.

Additional Info: It has achieved a world wide gross at the box office of $13,500.