Woody Allen has been consistently making at least 1 film a year from 1982 all the way till 2017. He's been a director since 1966. Putting his personal life aside, he's made some classic films that people will remember for years and decades to come. But given that he pumps out movies like there's no tomorrow, it's no surprise that not every film he makes is going to be a home run. For as witty and well written films like Bullets over Broadway, Midnight in Paris, and Annie Hall, are, people also forget the large volume of films he's made, and how only a handful of them are going to stand the test of time, and he's made films that are forgettable, and some that are genuine stinkers.

Shadows and Fog is a genuine stinker.

This was Woody Allen's attempt paying homage to German Expressionism, with almost none of the things that made it unique. Really, the film only seems to be borrowing from it is on a visual level. However, Woody Allen's nihilistic observation of the human condition, and witty dialogue do not mesh that well. The style of films like M or Nosferatu simply do not work as comedies.

On a writing level, Woody Allen seems to be taking more cues from Franz Kafka. Writing a Kafkaesque story is extremely difficult to do correctly, because if you don't do it properly, you will quickly test your audience's patience and aggravate them. And it's clear the Allen didn't have the time needed to make sure it worked.

Maybe this could be forgiven if the film was funny, but it simply is not. And most of the "insightful" dialogue in this film feels like stuff we've seen from Woody Allen before. There's nothing new here; there's no excitement here. This is topped off by one of Woody Allen's worst endings he's ever given to one of his films. By the end of the film, it feels like nothing has been accomplished, and the characters have gone nowhere. This film simply meanders for a bit, and then the movie just comes to a dead halt. The whole film feels like a non-event, and it doesn't feel intentional on Woody Allen's part.

This is a dreary and boring slog, despite the fact that it barely scrapes feature-length runtime at 85 minutes. I mean, some of the acting is okay, and the film is competently made, but there is literally no reason to watch this, unless you want to be a Woody Allen completionist. Otherwise, just let this film retreat back to the shadows and fog and be forgotten.