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Life hasn’t been easy for the Beckman family. After the recent loss of the patriarch, reducing the happy family to the three brothers and their harried mother Renee (Lauren Benanti), middle sibling Ryan (Chris Galust) bears the brunt of the responsibility taking him from carefree college student to Mr. Mom. His younger brother James (Sam Duncan) idolizes him, and their relationship is sweet and endearing and will all the strain, it keeps Ryan on track as a support system. His tight schedule runs between getting James off to school, getting to school himself, making time for his girlfriend Alex (Mariel Molino), and balancing two jobs. Everyone is muddling through, but no one is speaking on how they feel.

Beneath it all Ryan is struggling with grief, with loss, with his newly inherited household stewardship and unspeakable nightmare and tries to quell it all with meds, therapy with Dr. Huston (Michael Boatman), his best friend Nick (Germain Arroyo) and art. It all seems more than he can take until news breaks that his older brother Jason (Dylan McTee), a gifted college athlete, is coming back home under mysterious circumstances. His return brings up old resentments, tensions and buried emotions to a boiling point.

Jason isn’t himself and the more he withdraws the more Ryan must reluctantly lean in, a burden he doesn’t want to bear. Jason’s already fractured psyche is on a knife’s edge when Ryan finds him struggling to discern what is real and what is illusion when an insidious entity begins to stalk them both. Is it a harbinger of sinister things to come or the shadow hanging over a family consumed by darkness, grief and pain?

Chris Galust, Mariel Molino, Dylan McTee, Samuel Duncan, and Michael Boatman, The Shade 2023, Red King

The Shade is a stark look at unresolved grief and trauma, a candid take on how we tend to push things down and away in the quest to regain normalcy, balance and the person we were before our tragedy. Galust is feverish as Ryan, buried under the crushing weight of responsibility leaving no room for him to conquer his own demons.

The Shade blends psychological horror and intimate family drama and marks the feature debut of writer/director Tyler Chipman. Chipman’s talent shines through in the film’s pacing and atmospheric tension, not to mention its quest to dissect generational trauma and mental health, marking a promising start to what is sure to be an exciting career. Red King Cinema’s dedication to producing unique, character-driven content for the independent film market is evident. Together, Chipman and Red King have delivered a truly compelling and original story.

Mo Moshaty is a horror writer, lecturer and producer. As a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist and life long horror fan, Mo has lectured with Prairie View A&M Film & TV Program as a Keynote, BAFSS Horror Studies Sig  and The University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. Mo has partnered with horror giant, Shudder Channel, to co-produce the 13 Minutes of Horror Film Festival 2021 and 2022 with Nyx Horror Collective and her literary work “Love the Sinner” was published with Brigid’s Gate Press in July of 2023 and her two volume collection, “Clairviolence: Tales of Tarot and Torment will be published with Tenebrous Press in 2025. 
Mo is the creator and Editor-in-Chief of NightTide Magazine and the Founder of Mourning Manor Media.