‘Shadow of God’ Review: An Unholy and Unexpected Religious Horror

Tyler Doupe'   |  

Apr 14, 2025

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I am not a die-hard fan of religious horror. Of course these are some films from the subgenre I enjoy. The first and third Exorcist films, The Sentinel, and Red State are a few that make the cut for me. However, as a non-believer, I don’t always get the same mileage from faith-based horror that religious folks likely do. I do dig religious horror films that deviate from the expected. And Michael Peterson’s latest film, Shadow of God, certainly excels in that conceit. 

What is Shadow of God about?

This picture follows Mason (Mark O’Brien), a priest who returns to his hometown following a challenging exorcism. After arriving back where he grew up, Mason is inexplicably reunited with his dead father, Angus (Shaun Johnston). As strange as that may sound, things only get weirder from there. Mason comes to believe that his dad is possessed by a holy entity. Now, Mason must attempt to broker peace between his undead father and the cultists who want to destroy the entity within him. 

Shadow of God is far from a perfect film. However, Peterson’s latest directorial effort breaks from convention and delivers a few great scares in the process. Tim Cairo’s screenplay mixes existing Biblical mythology with a measure of creativity and the end result is pretty amusing. 

Rather than boilerplate good versus evil, we get a surprising spin on exorcism and possession pictures. Cairo dreams up a really inventive scenario that sees both evil and good taking human form and battling for dominance. I won’t say too much more than that because I am a firm believer that the less a person knows going in, the better their chances of being surprised and having a good time. 

The film bucks convention and some of the risks pay off.

I was half expecting a film about a priest trying repeatedly to exorcise a bed-bound demon with limited success. We’ve seen that approach so many times in the wake of The Exorcist. So, it’s a nice change of pace to see a religious horror picture branch out from that template. It’s a subgenre based on mythology, so it only makes sense to play with what’s written and tweak a bit as necessary.

Thanks to a strong performance by O’Brien and thoughtful writing by Cairo, Mason is a textured and humanized lead. He isn’t impervious to temptation like we often see with protagonists in religious horror. He’s a human being with human tendencies. That makes him infinitely more relatable than the stock priest characters who never waver in their devotion. And that goes a long way toward making this religious horror thriller more accessible to a heathen like me. 

However, Shadow of God doesn’t get everything right.

If every aspect of the film were as effective as O’Brien’s performance, I would have been a happy camper. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The flick is a bit rough around the edges. For starters, the concepts within are really grandiose. Nothing wrong with that. However, when you’re working with a small budget and trying to pull off epic effects sequences, that puts a damper on things. The CGI here is one of its weakest elements. If Peterson had relied less on VFX, the picture would be better for it.  

The score also leaves something to be desired. There are a few harrowing exchanges to which the accompanying music simply does not do justice. We have these crucial developments that don’t stand out nearly as much as they should because the score doesn’t accent them nearly as effectively as it ought to have. 

My final qualm is that the story is a little incoherent at times. Some of the exposition is relayed with voice distortion during possession sequences. That makes it hard to understand everything in the moment. However, it was easy enough to put the majority of the pieces together retroactively. 

All things considered, Shadow of God is worth seeking out. The film has its fair share of issues, but a solid script and an assured performance from a captivating lead outshine what doesn’t quite work. If you are curious to see what I mean, the film is streaming now on Shudder.