The plot centres around a prescription drug-addicted[5] newlywed photographer (Sarah Jurgens) who appears to be stalked by a dark man in a brimmed hat who follows her from her nightmares into reality.
[3] Rachel Darwin, a pregnant woman going through a career crisis, has recurring dreams in which a shadow man wearing a fedora forcibly removes a deformed baby from her womb.
Her husband Scott believes that her experiences are hallucinations born from a subconscious still coping with his previous infidelity and a fear of childbirth.
Troublingly, she also sees the "Hat Man" while awake, as a distorted blur in the background of a photograph, or a flicker in the corner of an eye.
At her regular group therapy session for recovering addicts, Rachel shares her experience and befriends the only person who believes her, a strange man named William who claims to suffer from a similar sleep paralysis and visions.
Meanwhile, William examines photographs he secretly took of Rachel during group therapy and sees the Hat Man standing behind her.
During questioning, Scott realizes that his wife was telling the truth when he sees the Hat Man materialize in a photograph as well as behind the interrogating detective.
Adam Tomlinson first clarified what was meant by the "inspired by true events" tagline at the film's post-premiere question-and-answer session; that the core story is based on his personal experience of seeing "a hat man" and then discovering his nightmare sighting was a worldwide phenomenon.
Tomlinson then turned to the Internet, and found thousands of similar reports from around the globe: "No one really knows what they are ... You wake up from a dream and find a man in a hat standing over you or sitting on your bed and you're unable to move.
[7] However, according to co-executive producer Brigitte Kingsley, "People through hundreds of years have seen this figure, or shadow person appearing in their dreams, causing sleep paralysis and sometimes seen in waking life as well".
[8] Estimates of how many people experience sleep paralysis vary from 5 percent to 60 percent; the scientific explanation for it is "a disconnect between body and mind" in which one becomes mentally aware before the body "wakes up" from its paralyzed state, potentially a terrifying experience, especially if, as frequently happens, these episodes are accompanied by hallucinations and the sensation of breathlessness.
Sarah Jurgens is the actress who portrays that main character, Rachel Darwin, a photographer addicted to prescription drugs who begins to lose her sense of reality as she grapples with her broken marriage and her nightmares.
[5][9]Joshua Fraiman's background in film was primarily as a cinematographer,[10] with The Man in the Shadows representing his directorial debut.
[2] The special features include deleted scenes and audio commentary by director Joshua Fraiman, writer Adam Tomlinson, and executive producer Andrew Cymek.
[3] The Man in the Shadows received mostly negative reviews upon its release, with criticism directed towards the film's acting, and script.
McGrew concluded his review by writing, "If you want a film as background noise in which you don’t have to pay any attention to it, then check out The Shadow Man.
Sedensky also felt the film never fully explored the phenomenon which it was inspired by, and lacked sufficient depth to warrant any interest.