Sob a Sombra

I had been following the recent festival news regarding "Under the Shadow", and shortly after it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival it was promptly acquired by Netflix.

The fact that Netflix snagged it right away from other major distributors should be a real indicator of how much of a winner this movie really is.

Most people will dismiss "Under the Shadow" right away after seeing the PG-13 rating. Don't. Give it a chance, and you won't regret it. This movie doesn't rely on cheap jump scares. The way the movie is paced, it actually lets the tension and intensity accumulate, little by little, and the scares that it delivers, although few in number, are guaranteed to leave a mark.

In one particular instance, everyone in the room screamed and almost jumped out of their seats, and I do mean *everyone*, and that goes to show how well the movie does in pulling everyone in.

Even though the story is set in the 1980s, a lot of themes are, coincidentally, a big deal nowadays, such as the usage of the veil by women, and how they're actually perceived/treated as inferior to and by men, when in reality they happen to be extremely strong characters on their own, driven by what they want to do and what they want to be, and not by what others expect of them.

The Djinn, the so-called "monster" in this movie, is nothing short of amazing given the story and the context, and he's not something you're likely to forget any time soon. I will, however, do the same thing that other reviewers and critics have done before me, and I won't say anything further on this "entity", besides the fact that it's an extremely refreshing, new and interesting concept for the whole "monster movie". Go see the movie, and hopefully you'll not only be surprised and amazed, but also equally terrified.

Narges Rashidi, who plays the mother (Shideh), has a strong and gripping role, but in my humble opinion it was actually Avin Manshadi who plays her daughter, Dorsa, the one who stole the show.

In general, people think of kids (in horror movies) as annoying, and all-around bad actors who just don't have it in them to actually act the part in what's supposed to be a scary, horrifying film. In a nutshell, Avin Manshadi blew me away. The way she delivered her lines, how she acted, the very different ways she looked at her mother given the context, how she looked at her surroundings, and the fact that her gaze also never looked at the "camera" or anything of the sort, that certainly elevated the movie to something else entirely.

It made the whole thing *actually* believable, which isn't always the case when you have a kid as a main protagonist. For an underage kid, and for her first role in anything EVER (according to IMDb), I can't begin to tell you how extremely HUGE her performance actually is.

In short, this movie has very strong performances, a believable dilemma set in a very real period of our history, and a plot that doesn't leave you hanging with even more questions by the end or a twist-ending, like how many/most films usually do nowadays.

Babak Anvari (Director) is definitely on my list of people to keep an eye out for, especially when you consider that this was his first feature film. Extremely impressive, and there's no doubt in my mind that this young director has a lot to offer to the world of filmmaking in general, although I'd very much like to see him tackle some more horror projects.

If you want to see a horror movie riddled with cheap jump scares that provide easy chuckles and giggles, this movie is not for you.

If you want to see a horror movie with lots of deaths, blood and violence, this movie is definitely not for you.

If, however, you are a true fan of the genre and are looking for something new, if you can actually look past the language barrier and want to see an actual plot that gradually evolves in a slow-burn kind of way (as opposed to watching the kind of horror movies where you can just "turn your brain off" and enjoy the mindless fun without giving it a second thought), then you should give this movie a chance, by all means.

If possible, you should watch this in theaters to really get the "experience", otherwise watching it at home won't probably pack the same kind of punch, but I guess everyone is different in that aspect. Just be sure to actually invest all of your senses when watching it!

Like I said, don't go expecting a gore-filled horror fest. This is a movie that actually aims to do justice to the Horror genre and the scares it delivers... and boy, do they!

Ingeniously carving a ghost story on top of its grim setting, Under the Shadow is a smartly crafted, patiently narrated & brilliantly performed Persian horror that makes excellent use of its foreboding atmosphere to deliver the chills, and remains a highly gripping & deeply uncomfortable experience from start to finish.

Set in 1980s Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war, the story of Under the Shadow follows a mother & her daughter who find themselves being haunted by a mysterious entity in their house after refusing to leave the war-torn city. As more residents leave the building, the paranormal incidents only intensifies inside their apartment.

Written & directed by Babak Anvari in what's his directional debut, Under the Shadow is a fusion of family drama & haunted house horror, with former focusing on its character's struggle to cope with the aftereffects of Iranian revolution while the latter coming to life on its own amidst the disturbing & troubled era of Iran.

Its timeline & setting play a vital role in establishing a sinister environment where evil can flourish, and Anvari takes ample time to familiarise the audience with the protagonist's predicament before letting the supernatural entity make its presence felt. And further amplifying its eerie vibe n tone is its fluid camera-work, tight editing & stellar use of sound.

Spearheading the acting department is Narges Rashidi in the role of the mother who's still reeling from the revolution's impact on her life, which only worsens when a series of inexplicable activities begin unfolding in her apartment. And supporting her all the way through is Avin Manshadi who is in as her daughter and both of them play their part convincingly.

On an overall scale, Under the Shadow is a confidently directed, deftly written & exquisitely paced chiller that's encapsulated with an ominous atmosphere and packs genuinely effective moments of suspense over the course of its 84 minutes runtime. Haunting, thought-provoking & brimming with the undercurrent of post-revolution effect on everyday life, this Persian horror is definitely worth your time & money.

"Under the Shadow" was such a wonderful surprise for me. I had already read some reviews and everybody was speechless about it. I didn't really expect something THAT good when I started watching it.

The film takes place in Iran somewhere in the 80's when the Iran-Iraq war was on. Shideh and Dorsa, a mother and a daughter, find themselves "abandoned and unprotected" after the father has to leave in order to give his services as a doctor in the war zone. This is when they start realizing that something evil haunts them in their apartment, and there is not much they can do to escape since it's dangerous to leave their home.

Many compare it to 2014's "Babadook". I can see why but at the same time I don't see so many relations to each other. The only thing that I know is that there were moments that I seriously considered turning the lights on for a while... Sometimes the graphics were not that great, definitely not disappointing but seriously, I didn't mind at all. Narges Rashidi's acting is a huge plus for the movie as long as the direction.

Scary, touching, simple though powerful, "Under the Shadow" is a pleasant surprise not only for the horror genre but for cinema in general.

In western culture movies become iconic quickly. For example, entire generations who missed the original Star Wars film can nonetheless recite dialog from it. Horrow films fit the same mold. The tropes, tricks, plot arcs and even to a large degree the SFX become familiar over time because they are part of the overall experience you expect.

But what happens when a horror fan experiences a film from a different culture? Are the building blocks the same ... or different? One of the clearest exponents of this issue is this film, a modern "horror" film produced in an Islamic country that is known neither for its horror films nor really for its interest in films at all.

Which is what makes UNDER THE SHADOW SO REMARKABLE.

It is good enough to stand on its own as a horror piece. In fact, it's only possible failing -- that it builds so slowly and gradually -- can in fact be considered a major strength. It may well be that, in the west, film-makers who lack the skill to "layer" their suspense raise the temperature far too quickly? However when you consider the obvious incorporation of allegory and metaphor to overlay the plight of the heroine in her real life against her plight in the supernatural realm .. the film gets even more intriguing. Not preachy. Just interesting.

Recommended.

If there is one thing horror movies do best, it's taking real life, psychological fears and making them as tangible as possible, forcing us to experience the dread that we prefer to push into the back of our minds, yet this is something often traded out for cheap shock in horror movies today. While "Under the Shadow" may miss a few beats in terms of its actual scares, it is an atmospheric and smart film that is about the real oppression that many people had to deal with and how it affects its main character.

It takes place in Iran during the 80s, a very divisive time in the country's history, when Iranians could be bombed by Iraq at any moment. Anyone who didn't follow their strict rules was horribly punished, and one could be discriminated against for their past political views, and the end of the war was nowhere in sight.

The film begins with Shideh attempting to finish her medical studies, but being turned down for her past political views. Her mother has just died, and she always dreamed that Shideh would be a doctor. Her husband, while loving, doesn't seem very supportive, and they get in an argument which details her past, showing that her husband has subtly oppressed her in the past. He leaves for work around a time that rumors begin to surface about Iraq bombings. He insists she take her daughter to his parents' house, and she denies, mostly as a way to prove that she can take care of her daughter.

However, after the first bombing, Shideh begins to lose control of her daughter, who starts to talk to supernatural beings brought on by the anxiety and fear caused by the attacks. Most people begin leaving, and soon she is left alone, desperately clinging to her daughter, but often failing.

The horror is said to be supernatural, but it is mostly brought upon by her fear that she is useless. She fears that since she can't be a doctor, she must be a good mother, but everything around her is telling her she is failing.

As far as the actual scares go, they are executed impressively for the most part. The shots are held just as long as they need to be held in order to build tension, and cuts are made at the right moments. There are a few jump scares that felt predictable (such as the first dream sequence, and moments towards the end), but most are built up perfectly and used just sparingly enough to truly be unaware of what would happen next. A few moments during the climax felt dragged out, as tends to happen with many horror films, good and bad. But what is most striking about this film is its atmosphere. It has a very dream-like atmosphere and some of the imagery is pretty hard to forget.