Year: 2019
Runtime: 115 min
Language: English
Director: Jim Mickle
When a serial killer terrorizes Philadelphia, reappearing every nine years, Officer Thomas Lockhart becomes obsessed with catching him. His relentless pursuit of justice consumes him, leading him to sacrifice everything. As he delves deeper into the investigation, the truth becomes increasingly complex, and Lockhart's sanity begins to unravel, blurring the line between reality and obsession.
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Read the complete plot breakdown of In the Shadow of the Moon (2019), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
In 1988, a terrifying incident unfolds in Philadelphia as multiple individuals simultaneously suffer fatal hemorrhages, resulting in catastrophic blood loss and brain disintegration. Police officer Thomas Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook) teams up with his partner Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine) and his brother-in-law, Detective Holt (Michael C. Hall), to probe into this gruesome case. Lockhart identifies a troubling connection among the victims when he discovers identical puncture wounds on their bodies. Toxicology tests reveal the use of an unstable isotope injected into their vertebrae, deepening the mystery.
The investigation takes a darker turn when Lockhart and Maddox encounter an assault victim bearing the same distinctive injuries. Before succumbing to a similar hemorrhage, she describes her attacker as a black woman with a wounded hand. A thrilling chase ensues when they attempt to apprehend the suspect, who unexpectedly subdues Maddox. In a chilling confrontation, she reveals intimate details of Lockhart’s life, including the fact that his wife is about to give birth. Just before a traumatic struggle leads to her death by train, she ominously predicts her fate.
In the aftermath, Lockhart struggles with the shocking confusion brought on by the unexplained circumstances of the case, especially since, despite firing upon the suspect, her bullet wound remains a mystery. Sadly, his life takes another tragic turn as his wife dies during childbirth. Fast forward to 1997, an eerie resurgence of gruesome killings mimics the earlier frenzy, and Lockhart, now a detective nurturing his young daughter, Amy (Quincy Kirkwood), faces a perplexing challenge as no clear motive or connection to the latest victims emerges.
As he retraces clues from the 1988 incidents leading to an aircraft built in 1996, shocking camera footage reveals the same woman from years past, who should have been gone forever. Naveen Rao ([Rudi Dharmalingam]), a physicist, charges Lockhart with the notion of time travel, yet his theories go unacknowledged. The story escalates when Lockhart discovers the suspect alive and unchanged at an airfield, leading to a dramatic event where she unintentionally kills Maddox and once again traps Lockhart.
By 2006, Lockhart, now a private investigator beyond obsessed with this time-twisting case, grows increasingly detached from Amy, who now lives with Holt. His relentless search ultimately unveils a previously unrecorded victim. Through this discovery, he encounters Arlene, the late victim’s wife, who discloses that her husband was involved in a white nationalist militia, and Lockhart begins piecing together a chilling narrative that connects the murders from 1988 and 1997.
When he presents his theory to Holt about a time-traveling killer targeting members of the militia in reverse chronological order, he is met with skepticism. In desperate pursuit of justice, he impersonates a police officer, only to find yet another victim murdered by the same assailant. He manages to wound her during a chase, leading to a glimpse of a time machine shrouded beneath the surface.
Fast forward to 2015, Lockhart anxiously awaits a potential reappearance at the beach. Simultaneously, Rao confronts him, revealing his sinister technology that powers the fatal injections used by the woman, justifying the killings as a preventive measure against future calamities. Lockhart, however, remains firm in his belief that her actions must be stopped. A heart-stopping reunion occurs on that beach, where the woman reveals herself to be Rya (Cleopatra Coleman), Lockhart’s granddaughter, and explains that she is on a mission to avert a catastrophic civil war triggered by her former allies.
This encounter becomes a heartbreaking confrontation, as Lockhart ultimately acknowledges his role in Rya’s fate. Overwhelmed with sorrow, he attempts to convince her to abandon her mission, yet she adamantly reminds him of its one-way nature. Resolute in her mission’s importance, she comforts him and departs, leave behind her charm bracelet as something to remember her by.
In 2042, Rao executes the injections, targeting Rya’s former enemies, effectively erasing her existence. Rya’s voice resonates through the timeline as she recounts how her actions prevent a disaster that could have devastated thousands. Meanwhile, back in 2015, Lockhart finds redemption as he reunites with his family, cradling his granddaughter Rya, adorned with her charm bracelet, and comfortingly assures her that everything will be alright—words he once whispered to her mother, Amy, during her own birth.
Last Updated: November 15, 2024 at 15:53
Still wondering what the ending of In the Shadow of the Moon (2019) really means? Here’s a spoiler-heavy breakdown of the final scene, major twists, and the deeper themes that shape the film’s conclusion.
The ending of In The Shadow of the Moon brings the story full circle with a deeply intertwined fate that hinges on time travel and sacrifice. Throughout the film, Lockhart unknowingly becomes part of a complex loop where Rya, the woman he is relentlessly hunting, is actually his granddaughter. Her mission is to prevent a future civil war sparked by a white supremacist movement—the True America Movement—that ultimately bombed Philadelphia in 2024, setting the country on a destructive path. Rya’s attempts to stop these tragedies involve traveling backwards in time during blood moon events, using a mysterious pod that allows her to jump to moments nine years apart, altering events little by little.
In her final encounter with Lockhart in 2015, she reveals the shocking truth: her purpose was to stop a chain of future violence by preventing the rise of the racist movement, which involved many individuals on a mailing list that Lockhart had investigated. Her actions have successfully changed the course of history, preventing the large-scale devastation seen in the opening scene. However, tragedy strikes when Lockhart, inadvertently, kills Rya in 1988—her first attempt to travel back—creating a paradox. Because she was killed before she could be born, a fixed point in time is now established: their lives are eternally linked in a loop, and she is both a hero and a victim of her own timeline.
Despite this, Lockhart’s obsession nearly destroys his personal life, alienating him from his family, but in the end, her work enables a better future. When Lockhart’s daughter goes into labor, she welcomes him back, offering him a second chance to be part of his family and to experience love and forgiveness. Rya’s sacrifice ensures that the destructive potential of hatred and violence is thwarted, giving everyone a hope—a future without the horrors they narrowly avoided, and emphasizing that real change begins with the choices we make today. The film leaves viewers contemplating the importance of combating hatred not with time travel, but through understanding and action in the present.
Last Updated: June 25, 2025 at 08:58
Don't stop at just watching — explore In the Shadow of the Moon in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what In the Shadow of the Moon is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.
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