A Face in the Cloud: Liang Cruises on Kooky with WWII Sci-Fi

There’s something to be said for a bonkers mishmash of genre tones and subtexts, and Shadow in the Cloud, an unexpected and unpredictably zany feature from Roseanne Liang, is one such breathless example of playfulness which oscillates between train wreck and innovation. Unfortunately more of a mixed bag of tricks in which the sum doesn’t eventually capitalize on the promise of all its parts, it’s still a fun, albeit messy splurge of ideas which could have benefitted from embracing the nuttiness from frame one. Even as it nosedives into some distractingly silly territory which can’t even be calibrated for camp, it’s a film which feels like the making of a small cult blip for Liang whose previous features focused on more autobiographical experiences of unique Asian-Antipodean perspectives.…...