A burned-out, people-pleasing woman successfully banishes her rowdy, rebellious inner voice, only to have it manifest as a wild alter ego who wreaks havoc on her life, forcing her to confront family dysfunction, romantic chaos, and her own insecurities to regain control.  

SYNOPSIS:

Janice Hoffman, a middle-aged people-pleaser extraordinaire, is unaware that she has a Shadow side containing all the rage that she has suppressed for decades. The more Janice fails to set boundaries with her judgmental mother, demanding boss, and narcissistic estranged husband, the bigger and louder her Shadow grows. After a particularly bad day, Janice’s ghostly Shadow bursts into flames, and Janice can at last see and hear her. Finally unleashed, Shadow assails Janice with nonstop analysis of her poor decisions, urging her to stand up for herself. Fearing she’s going mad, Janice consults a neurologist and a therapist, and she even attends an awkward holistic retreat, all in an attempt to silence Shadow’s constant commentary.

However, nothing works, and Janice resigns herself to life with Shadow. But when Janice decides to give her awful ex a second chance, Shadow launches an all-out war, and Janice makes a last ditch attempt to rid herself of The Voice. She finds a shaman to exorcise her shadow, and is delighted when he warns she’ll never have access to that part of herself again. With her Shadow gone, Janice happily resumes her regular life and possible reunion with her ex, only to discover that she has truly lost all ability to feel angry and to say No. Meanwhile, Janice’s Shadow has become fully embodied! Now able to interact with the world at large, Shadow impersonates Janice and sets about correcting all the injustices others have committed against her, but with a personality driven by lust and fury. As people interact with both versions of Janice, they begin to question her mental stability. Additionally, Shadow’s unrestricted spending raises concerns of identity theft, and her romantic tryst with the friendly barista creates confusing and awkward encounters for Janice. Shadow’s eventual arrest for public fighting compels her to confess the truth to the barista, who immediately informs Janice about her unknown doppelganger.

Brought face to face, Janice and Shadow each admit that being separated from the other’s qualities leaves them worse off, and they ask the shaman to reunite them. But as predicted, the split was permanent, and the shaman is unable to rejoin them. As they try to figure out how to navigate their futures, Janice’s daughter Caroline gets into danger, and the women set off to rescue her. The rescue goes horribly awry, and just before they plummet from a high balcony to their probable deaths, the women express appreciation and love for the other. Amazingly, Janice survives the fall. As she comes to, she discovers that in expressing their acceptance for each other, she and Shadow have been reunited into one. Now with full access to all her emotions, as well as a newfound self-respect, Janice sets forth cleaning up her and Shadow’s messes and laying the path for a rich, exciting future.