British Iranian Babak Anvari made a splash at the 2016 Sundance Film Fest with Under the Shadow, a story of supernatural siege, inspired by the director’s Tehran childhood.
Set in 1988 as post-revolutionary conflict rages on, the movie borrows elements of paranormal horror of Poltergeist or The Babadook.
The cultural specificity of its political turmoil benefits from a feminist view of a society, which is infamous for its oppression of women.
The protagonist is a former leftist radical (Narges Rashidi) trying to save herself and her young daughter from a seemingly inescapable war.
The novel idea here is an infestation of djinn, Middle Eastern spirits carried by the wind — bent on dividing or destroying them.
The most haunting image is a faceless figure in a whirling chador that threatens to engulf the mother.
Under the Shadow (2016): British Iranian Babak Anvari’s Horror Tale (*AMOUR*)
Kit Fraser/Vertical Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection
British Iranian Babak Anvari made a splash at the 2016 Sundance Film Fest with Under the Shadow, a story of supernatural siege, inspired by the director’s Tehran childhood.
Set in 1988 as post-revolutionary conflict rages on, the movie borrows elements of paranormal horror of Poltergeist or The Babadook.
The cultural specificity of its political turmoil benefits from a feminist view of a society, which is infamous for its oppression of women.
The protagonist is a former leftist radical (Narges Rashidi) trying to save herself and her young daughter from a seemingly inescapable war.
The novel idea here is an infestation of djinn, Middle Eastern spirits carried by the wind — bent on dividing or destroying them.
The most haunting image is a faceless figure in a whirling chador that threatens to engulf the mother.