There was a hint of Reacher in Alan Ritchson’s Above the Shadows performance
Gravitas Ventures
“Above the Shadows” stars Olivia Thirlby, who you might remember as Judge Cassandra Anderson in the beloved Karl Urban action outing “Dredd” (2012). Thirlby plays Holly, an invisible woman. But this isn’t the cool, superpower kind of invisible. Rather, it’s a metaphor for the isolation that follows grief. Holly’s mother died some years prior, prompting her daughter to withdraw from life to the point that nobody, even her own family, could see her anymore, which I could have sworn was pretty much the plot of that invisible girl “Buffy” episode. Still, Holly has at least learned how to use her invisibility to her advantage, working as a paparazzo to take candid photos of celebrities in situations where regular photographers would never be able to gain access.
Alan Ritchson plays Shayne Blackwell, and in case you were worried he wasn’t going to punch anyone in this supernatural-tinged meditation on grief, don’t worry. Shayne is a former MMA fighter who is somehow the only person who can see Holly. That’s just as well because it turns out Holly took a compromising photo of Shayne that resulted in the breakdown of his relationship with his former partner, Juliana (Megan Fox). Now, Holly has a chance to redeem herself and begins helping Shayne, supporting his training and ultimate return to the world of fighting, which means we get to see a lot of pre-“Reacher” punching from the man in question.
On the other hand, Ritchson had been showcasing his combat prowess prior to the arrival of “Above the Shadows.” In 2019, he was playing Hank Hall, aka Hawk, in “Titans,” the comic book adaptation series that debuted on the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) DC Universe, before transitioning to HBO Max for its third and fourth seasons. With “Titans,” Ritchson had already proved his toughman bona fides and sense of humor, both of which have always been integral to the Jack Reacher character. While “Above the Shadows” also allowed him to showcase his tough-guy persona, it also allowed him to reveal more of his dramatic capabilities, with Ritchson adding a human touch to his portrayal of Shayne that would come in handy for “Reacher.”
Above the Shadows gave us sensitive Alan Ritchson
Gravitas Ventures
“Above the Shadows” didn’t cause much of a stir upon its debut. It premiered at the Brooklyn Film Festival on May 31, 2019, before being given a video-on-demand release alongside a limited theatrical run. The movie made just $1,594, so that must really have been a “select” few theaters. Clearly, the real focus was on the video-on-demand release, though there’s no way to know how well “Above the Shadows” fared in terms of audience share there. However, Rotten Tomatoes suggests it might have done okay since critics and audiences seemed to respond quite well.
The film currently has a 70% critic score based on 10 reviews, alongside a 64% audience score. Courtney Howard of Variety praised the “magical-realist fairy tale” describing it as “imaginative and intelligent in its ideas,” even if she also criticized the movie’s sentimentality. Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times also praised the film, noting Olivia Thirlby’s performance in particular, but also wasn’t too impressed with the way in which “the more Holly comes into view, the blander her character becomes.” Marina Antunes of AWFJ.org, meanwhile, praised Alan Ritchson for doing “quite well here with some emotional moments.”
Ritchson has since demonstrated yet more of his sensitive side in “Reacher,” which requires a surprising amount of nuance from its leading man for a show that’s essentially about a large man hitting smaller men. He’s also shown off his ability to handle “emotional moments” in “Ordinary Angels,” an overlooked 2024 drama for which Ritchson had to quickly shed his “Reacher” weight. No doubt we’ll see more of that as his career continues to flourish in the wake of his Jack Reacher performance.
