Valley of Shadows (2017) User Reviews

Where ... or wer?

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 26 March 2019]

It actually is more like who ... but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Not that the pacing of the movie would have you in that mood. So if you like fast paced told stories, you might want to look somewhere else. But if you are into stories told slowly and soaking in the mood and the ambient and everything else, this is exactly for you.

Now the fantasy (or fairy?) element of it all is there, but it is quite dark. And while not every question will be answered (remember that and don't blame the movie for it), you will have a lot of tension and a kid that has to physically cross to the other side (analogies and all) - what will he find and will we be able to make sense of it? Well that is for you to discover and to draw your own conclusions ...

Haunting & beautiful

[bsmar-1 · 7/10 · 27 September 2020]

A slowly unfolding gothic mood piece about a young rural boy trying to come to grips with the disappearance of his older brother, his mother's despair & struggles, and a series of savage sheep maulings in his farming community. Low on dialogue, but full of mist, towering environmental symbols, mystery and omens, this quietly moving examination of childhood confusion and grief might have been more bluntly entitled, "Is My Brother a Werewolf?"!

Appreciation & Questions

[gtsstl · 7/10 · 26 December 2020]

I'm writing mostly to invite explanations so I understand this movie better. I agree with the praise and criticisms of other reviewers. Yes, the movie is slow-paced, and no, that does not bother me. Even the plot summaries claiming not much happens are right. But what does happen interests me and leaves me with some wonderings.

What is killing the sheep? Who is the person Aslak meets in the woods? Why is there a pool of blood under the bed in the final scene?

I guess I don't quite understand this style of movie. If it is "gothic," does that give the viewer a set of expectations for how to interpret the movie? I don't mind ambiguity. I just sense that I'm missing something that may be obvious to other viewers.

Watching grass grow

[rogergotch · 21 July 2021]

Incredibly boring film. How does a boat with no means of propulsion create a wake floating down a river? The woo is strong in this film. Also why does a little boy go around half naked in a freezing landscape?

Made with considerable amounts of thoughtfulness and flair

[fredrikgunerius · 7/10 · 16 August 2023]

Plot-heavy would not be a correct description of this moody, introspective piece by Norwegian first-time director Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen. Although founded in a realistic universe and a Northern-European drama tradition, the film balances constantly and rather elegantly on the line to the supernatural, and Gulbrandsen's real trick here, and the film's best asset, is the way serious, grown-up matters are viewed through the eyes of the six year old lead-character. The filmmakers skilfully use the camera to take the big, scary world in through the eyes of the child, and demonstrate that we must all interpret, process and ultimately come to terms with events in our lives utilizing our own level of experience. In other words: Life must be lived by no other than yourself. It's relatable stuff for anyone who has been a child, even those who had forgotten how it was. Skyggenes dal is a slow-moving and in many ways uneventful film that may not catch the interest of everyone, but it's made with considerable amounts of thoughtfulness and flair by a clearly talented filmmaker. Worth a watch.

Valley of senseless boredom

[MadamWarden · 1/10 · 14 October 2019]

OMFG!

Spare your disquiet at watching dozens of closeups of a ghostly pale and often half naked young boy who eventually spends most of the movie stumbling around a must wet forest, lost. Comes across an isolated house where he meets his dead brother. They share 4 meaningless sentences about him possibly being the monster or not...

He then somehow gets back home after being found by a police and emergency services search party after a few days lost and alone and wet and cold. Two ambulances and medical staff are bypassed and he goes home in a taxi. 😂🤣😂

Oh, and then he sleeps, has breakfast goes back to sleep dressed in black with a pool of blood on the floor next to him. Cue the titles.

OMFG!!

The best is that all the reviews of 10 have no clue what this claptrap was about but rate it a 10 cause they are intellectual and aesthetic Giants!! 😂🤣😂🤣😂

Watch at your peril!

Don't waste your time!

[etsenberg · 1/10 · 3 March 2018]

I am shocked with the high ratings of this movie. It's just boring nothing with no meaningful end. The whole plot can be told in a couple of lines. Something kills sheep. 2 boys think it's a werewolf. Then the younger boy loses his dog. Then half of the film he wanderers in the forest looking for his dog; nothing happens. Then he meets a man living in a house in the forest; nothing special in the man and the house. The man says he is the beast who kill sheep; we never know if he means it literally. Nothing else happens between the man and the boy. Then the man puts the sleeping boy in the boat. The boy is found by rescuers. The older boy founds his dog (alive). The boy breaks the fence which was built to protect sheep from the beast. Then we see the boy lying on his bed (alive), with a pool of something like blood under the bed. The end. Ah yes, the boy also had an elder brother which was a drug addict, was expelled from home and maybe died or maybe committed some crime. We never get any explanation of this line, too.

An atmospheric nordic masterpiece

[inren · 10/10 · 21 June 2018]

6-year old Aslak lives with his mother in a rural town in Norway. Through Aslak's friend we learn that something has been brutally killing the farmers' sheep. Caught in a mix of family secrets and small town struggles, Aslak finds himself drawn into the dense woods behind his house.

Together with Aslak, our young protagonist, we explore the great unknown though the eyes of a child lost in the woods. Danger and curiosity go hand in hand as the movie unfolds. What is real and what isn't? There is something beautifully innocent in looking to nature for answers we cannot comprehend.

It's the mood of the film and the striking visuals, the uncertainty and the looming sense of foreboding, accompanied by eerily beautiful music, that makes Valley of Shadows thoroughly intriguing.

Valley of Shadows is thought provoking with a chilling, fairy-tale like aesthetic that is truly beautiful, while being, at it's core, a movie about a struggling family with their own traumas and secrets.

Ol' Wolfy

[westsideschl · 2/10 · 18 June 2018]

1. The DVD cover was the most engaging part of the movie. 2. Lots of foreboding music to set mood & action (or non-action in this case) - a crutch. 3. Opening scene of a couple of dead sheep. Most likely a wolf pack kill, but we are led to believe it is more horrifically sinister (e.g. a werewolf), and also because of lots of references to a full moon (the full Moon tie never gets old). That's about it for ol' wolfy (were or otherwise). 4. Local farmers put up a weak, rickety chicken wire fence and left some meat in that area. Made no sense 5. Anyway, most of the movie is following a young boy as he walks in the "gloomy" forest in his backyard. That's it. Well, the forest was cool.

I am very satisfied.

[castkang-656-85182 · 10/10 · 17 August 2018]

The ending of this movie is profound. I think that it goes to the movie which it looks at the viewpoint and thought of the young child. The quality of the sound film was very good, and I was immersed and did not know how long it was going. I am very satisfied.

So sloooooowwwwww...

[samjfarrand · 2/10 · 24 September 2020]

The cinemaphotography is great, the atmosphere is great but gawd this movie is boring. We exited it with 13:21 remaining. We were holding tight for something redeemable but nope. This movie sucked and I really wanted to like it as the description and trailer was intriguing. This was such a slow burn the kindling even went out. I feel jaded being suckered into the movie alluding to a beast that never was. Screw this film.

Quiet Boy Maybe Meets Monster on His Day Off

[cjstanford-65097 · 5/10 · 5 March 2023]

The highest reviews seem to come from those knowledgeable in Class, Gothic Norwegian Horror. Coming from a more American horror officialdom, this held my attention to the very end. At which point I decided I'm not a fan of classic, gothic Norwegian blah blah. It's slow, which can be great, but it turns out not to be here. Has a good ending, at least from a child's perspective. Captures the lonely, cold feeling of the unexploited Northern European forests and community. Cinematoagraphy , sound music and acting all done well. The "boy" seems to be overly directed. We never see him break out of his cautious, quiet pace ...Ever! Not very 11 year-old-like. But maybe that's gothic for you.

Probably the best Norwegian film ever made.

[loirev · 10/10 · 27 August 2018]

This film blew my away. People don't understand metaphysical cinema. It's a transcendental masterpiece.

A beautifully haunting film.

[patriciak329 · 10/10 · 23 March 2019]

A quiet, introspective feast for the eyes. The fact that was shot on actual film had a lot to do with this ambiance.

A beautiful film, but only for those who know how to appreciate it

[andrejedi-1 · 9/10 · 6 September 2018]

The only way to appreciate the beauty of this film is to see through the eyes of the child. It is a trancending experience. Love it!

A beautiful gothic film!

[jp_91 · 8/10 · 14 July 2021]

"Skyggenes dal" is a beautiful film with a gothic and oppressive atmosphere accompanied by a superb cinematography, the performances are wonderful and the script is profound if you can appreciate it.