The movie

It’s 1988, and the people of Tehran must cope with the destruction wrought by the Iran–Iraq War. As bombs fall from the sky, Shideh, a young mother with progressive ideas, does her best to survive with her daughter Dorsa. One day, a missile hits their apartment building but does not explode, and the little girl becomes ill. When she starts exhibiting a more and more disturbing behaviour as time goes by, one of the neighbours says there is a djinn prowling around, praying on people’s mind... Not unlike The Babadook – a terrifying claustrophobic thriller exploring the lives of a mother, her son, and the bogeyman – Under the Shadow leverages the horror genre to draw up a sharp denunciation of Iranian postrevolutionary politics and patriarchy. Its modest budget doesn’t prevent it from being an efficient slow-burning horror that insidiously creates anxiety before giving way to a fierce struggle against all forms of oppression. A master stroke from a very promising young filmmaker.