OEF Army veteran Justin McLaughlin (Jesse Gavin, The Burial, “Loki”), lives a life of solitude on his boat in Connecticut, working a menial job and avoiding his past. When his estranged brother Charlie (Joseph Poliquin, “Grey Hound”, “Project Power”), goes missing, Justin is forced from isolation and teams up with a private investigator named Frankie to track him down. Together, they discover Charlie’s been recruited by an extremist militia planning an unknown attack. Justin must decide how much of his Army past he’s willing to expose to extract Charlie from the clutches of their paramilitary leader, Billy, while reconciling his own sense of purpose and regaining his brother’s trust. Set during the Covid-19 pandemic, NORTHERN SHADE focuses on purpose and redemption in an age of heightened anxiety and isolation.

For thoughts on Northern Shade, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/nCFu9d_qi4Q?t=2084]

Video Quality

Northern Shade comes to MOD Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation that is strong throughout. The cinematography is very pleasing with a strong style both in bright daytime scenes and the moody night time sequences. The colors are given a lovely, natural saturation which never disappoint when it comes to accuracy and vibrancy. The skin tones look precise all around with impressive facets apparent in close-ups such as facial hair. The white levels radiate without veering into blooming, and the blacks only appear the slightest bit lacking at points without suffering from any compression artifacts. The natural environments and interiors deliver an incredible amount of detail and dimension. There are no instances of intrusive digital noise in the presentation outside of a few odd moments against certain backgrounds. We feel that every movie no matter the size deserves a Blu-Ray release, so we are glad this one made the cut.

Audio Quality

The film comes to Blu-Ray with a good LPCM 5.1 track in the original English which brings the story to life well enough. The movie does ratchet up as you reach the finale, but the calm moments outweigh these by a large margin as they provide your typical environmental activity which comes through well. The score and the soundtrack resonates with a lovely fidelity. The dialogue and sound effects such as gunfire are balanced well with competing elements where nothing gets lost in the mix. The low end of the track adds a bit of texture to certain scenes. Surround channels get some fine activity from the various environmental noises. There is not too much to be upset about here. This comes with optional English SDH subtitles.

Special Features

In Memory Of Rob Denaro: A minute-long text scrawl which tells a little bit about a man who graciously contributed to the production of the film but unfortunately passed away before he could see the final product.

Production Slates: A minute-long collection of film slates are provided here.

Deleted Scenes: There are two scenes of unused material totaling three minutes provided here featuring minor moments of Frankie finding the torched truck and Justin interacting with his mother.

Final Thoughts

Northern Shade is a firmly independent production which does not let lack of resources impact the quality of the work too much. The script is not overly ambitious, but it executes its core ideas effectively in a way that feels believable. The performances are better-than-average with no one person standing out as a weak link. There are some distinct directorial choices which keep this one from feeling lifeless in its artistry. While it may not be a complete knockout, it is a very entertaining drama which proudly stands tall among films of a similar pedigree. Bayview Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a fairly strong A/V presentation and a couple of special features. This is better than you would probably imagine, and it is worth supporting a quality independent production. Recommended

Northern Shade will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray and Digital on February 28, 2023.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Bayview Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.