Among the Shadows

Plot

On November 13, 2022, werewolves acting under unknown orders attack joggers in Brussels. Werewolf Randall Jackson fatally shoots werewolf Harry Goldstone, who works on European Federation president Richard Sherman's reelection campaign, and steals a strategy dossier for an upcoming debate. Before dying, Harry calls his niece, private investigator Kristy Wolfe, to tell her Randall attacked him. Lt. McGregor dismisses Kristy from the crime scene.

First lady Patricia Sherman, a vampire, hires Kristy to find Harry's killer. McGregor continues confronting Kristy during her investigation, working with detectives Alabastar Blazine and Bastien, with whom Kristy is having an affair. Kristy tracks down Randall, finding him with money, C4 explosives, and a calendar with a December date circled, but he escapes. Richard and Patricia meet with VP Matthew Benoit and businessman Max Eddelman, who propose cutting Richard in on fossil fuel profits if he abandons renewable energy and drops out.

Kristy interrupts to threaten Max. After discovering her car was rigged to explode, Kristy gets a potion from Harry's contact Colin Haroosen that prevents werewolves and vampires from reading her thoughts. Kristy and her friend Frank take down werewolf operative Armand. Kristy concludes there is a police mole and asks Blazine to investigate Bastien.

Production

Filming began on November 15, 2015, under the working title The Shadow Within, primarily in Brussels, continuing into December 2015 and early 2016. It is Lohan's first film appearance since The Canyons in 2013. Producer Ross Otterman cast Lohan after she moved to London, noting that her management became interested once they learned the film would shoot in Brussels. Otterman described Lohan as professional and capable of carrying any role. He explained the lengthy post-production process, which involved shooting in five countries over ten months, as standard for independently financed films; the film was finished in 2018 but took time for distribution.

Release

Tombstone Distribution, a subsidiary of Archstone Distribution, initially acquired the film in February 2016. It was listed for sale at the European Film Market at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2018, where Momentum Pictures, Entertainment One, and VMI Worldwide acquired distribution rights. The film was released on video on demand in the United States on March 5, 2019, and on DVD on August 6, 2019. It later saw releases in Japan, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Reception

The film received few mainstream reviews, with one negative review on Rotten Tomatoes. The Guardian, based on the trailer, wrote that Lohan was pioneering a bold acting theory of never sharing the frame with other characters, appearing as if her lines were filmed remotely in a single day. Gianni Capaldi, a lead actor, praised Lohan as a talent who owns the stage but felt the film was not edited as well as it could have been and had a confusing mishmash of characters. In October 2021, Parade listed Among the Shadows as one of the 31 best werewolf movies, calling it a mystery, horror, and political thriller. Seventeen ranked it number eight on their list of 15 werewolf movies to stream during a full moon.