Shadows in the Mind's Eye

February 14, 2022
In this melancholy historical from Tromp (Wide Open), a young couple finds comfort in God as they struggle to trust each other in the aftermath of WWII. Sam Mattas returns to the mountains of Arkansas from the Pacific theater after serving three years in the U.S. Navy, mentally scarred from combat. He finds his wife Charlotte Anne and daughter have had to turn to Charlotte Anne’s abusive father, a criminal known as the Judge, to make ends meet. When Sam starts seeing strange men in the woods near his home, Charlotte Anne dismisses them as visions related to wartime trauma, but Sam’s discovery of drugs on his property sets him on a mission to protect his family, even if it means allying with a former enemy. Tromp imbues the Judge with a palpable sense of menace and excels in her tender depiction of Sam and Charlotte Anne’s efforts to reckon with their traumas—Sam’s from war and Charlotte Anne’s from her father—including their pained and moving prayers. A strong first outing, this is moving, engaging, and occasionally thrilling.