Zalava

This movie was made in 2021. Fear is always associated with strange things and intangible events and issues. Fear of the beyond or things that cannot be seen and touched is one of the greatest experiences of fear for humans. Fear of things like demons or devils or things like that, which cinema has always benefited from and had good sales. Zalawa is also a kind of contrast between wisdom and ignorance. A fear that may come from ignorance and an intellect that is alone and must stand in front of an ignorant crowd. Zalava has good actors, but it is an ordinary film and nothing more. In fact, it cannot be said that Zalava is an attractive film, but the acting of the actors is acceptable and may bring the audience along.

This is a solid portrayal of a village's mass hysteria over a supposed demon that is blamed for any bit of bad luck that happens. This time, a local army sergeant wants to stop this nonsense, and the clash of cultures leads to an inevitable (but very predictable) tragedy.

The three lead actors (the sergeant, the doctor, and the exorcist) were sound, but the rest of the cast were very amateurish.

I don't know why the score is so low. I watched it today at the NIFFF and it was BRILLIANT!

Never had so much tension because of a pickle jar! The acting is great, the editing is great, the stress is real! It's not so much a horror movie as there's no horror... what's horrible is how superstition leads to stupid actions.

If you like to open your mind on foreign cinema, this is it!

I have a feeling people who don't like this movie rate the Avengers movies pretty high. The movie broods but takes you on a journey that allows you to investigate your own relationship to the concepts of faith, fear, and motivation. Highly recommend.

.... namely non-Persians....: this movie threads its politics and nationalism very carefully. With a potential loss for the depth and intensity of the story, it does not engage Islam in any way too. The exorcist seems to have never heard of Quran: pretty surprising when compared to the ubiquitous Christian theme of priests-exorcists.

This well-written story, starting from the total denial of the demonic, slowly takes more pro-demon stance (but never decisively) by engaging the love of the main character, a gendarmerie sergeant, for a local doctor, who is a reluctant demon believer (of the kind: it does not harm to believe). Once more, Eve (Malilah) leads Adam (Massoud) astray.

In its approach to ghosts/demons, the movie reminded me about "Benedetta" by Paul Verhoeven: both films leave open the question whether demons exist or not.