FILM: UNDER THE SHADOW

2016 psychological horror film written and directed by Iranian born Babak Anvari. Set in Tehran 5 years after the revolution during the devastating Iran/Iraq conflict, a young family struggles with life in wartime and an oppressive religious regime. The war is in its fourth year and the husband, a doctor, is called away for his annual military service. Evidently, the attrition of regular military doctors has caused the government to tap into the civilian population. The notice comes during the early days of the War of the Cities where both sides launched air and missile attacks against each other's cities. In February 1984 alone, there was an estimated 4,700 dead with 22,000 wounded in Iranian cities. Bombers were sighted by radar so civilians received air raid warnings. Missiles, however, strike without warning. 

With all this going on, the mother is alarmed by the behavior of her young daughter which begins to spirals out of control. Something is amiss, there are signs and the more superstitious of her neighbors point to the cause: their home has been invaded by an evil spirit, a Djinn.

This film does not break any new ground in the genre and in fact, part of the pleasure of viewing is how the director integrated standard and well known tropes into a unique setting and circumstance. He also gives the viewer a good taste of how life was in Tehran in those days. He does not make bold statements concerning the oppression by the government, instead he cleverly slides them in leaving the viewer to acknowledge-yeah, that is messed up.

Another pleasure is the lack of gore and no monsters with lots of teeth and tentacles-a visual trope beaten to death by directors in the past 30 years. There are some stunning visuals and the acting is well done and believable. 

Available on Netflix.