Under the Shadow (2016)

I'll tell you why so serious

Best movie ever!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The actress that plays lead is fabulous, the story is phenomenal. I would love to go on and on about how thoroughly I enjoyed this piece of work but I am afraid to give any spoilers. Watching with subtitles is the way to go, however I know some folks are not fond of them so they would steer away from it solely for that reason, however netflix has dubbed a lot of foreign movies with a long list on language audio. Check it out, so expertly done,

Brilliant. That's all I'm gonna say... Watch it ASAP.

Well, I must be honest I did not expect this to be as good as it was. This low budget supernatural thriller was highly effective and terrifying. Narges Rashidi was excellent as the stubborn mother - upset with the world because she was denied finishing her medical studies due to her involvement during a revolution. While their town is still under attack from Iraq, the tension inside her apartment slowly builds from suspenseful to creepy to terrifying. There's a lot of unexpected jump-scares, and some really great visuals. Absolutely brilliant.

Film critic Mark Kermode said that this British made Persian language (you can also watch it dubbed into English) movie was his favourite film of 2016, and I heard many other very positive reviews and recommendations for it, so I was looking forward to it. Basically set in the 1980s, during the war between the Islamic post-revolutionary Iran and Iraq, former medical student Shideh (Narges Rashidi) cannot resume her studies because of her involvement with student leftist groups. Returning home, Shideh gets rid of most of her old medical textbooks, apart from a book of medical physiology given to her by her deceased mother. War is intensifying, Shideh's husband Iraj (Bobby Naderi), a doctor called by the military and assigned to an area of heavy fighting, insists she should take her daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) with her to stay with her parents and be safe, but Shideh refuses to leave, Dorsa is upset to see her father leave, Iraj promises her that her favourite doll Kimia will protect her. A new boy moves in with his cousins, the Ebrahimi family, his parents were killed in an attack, during a shelling he whispers something to Dorsa and gives her a charm, she tells her mother the boy warned her of an evil spirit called a Djinn, and that the charm will protect her. Shideh throws the charm away visits Mrs. Ebrahimi, who informs her that the boy has been mute ever since the death of his parents, soon Dorsa gets a fever and has a number of nightmares, Shideh is also haunted by bad dreams. During another shelling, a missile strikes their building, an upstairs neighbour dies of a heart attack, Kimia goes missing in the commotion, Dorsa's behaviour becomes increasingly disturbed and erratic, she insists someone took Kimia, that there is a strange presence, and that Kimia is somewhere on the upper floor. The neighbours gradually leave to get away from the fighting, Mrs. Ebrahami (Aram Ghasemy) warns Shideh about djinns, explaining their ability to possess humans and that they steal beloved personal items from their victims, then the Ebrahamis leave as well, leaving Shideh and Dorsa as the only two inhabitants left in the building. Shideh's nightmares get worse, and she finds her personal items are disappearing, one of her scary visions is of a floating chador moving like a ghost, Dorsa admits seeing the same visions, but she claims that the ghost wants to help her find Kimia. Shideh finally wants to leave to go to the house of husband's parents, but Dorsa refuses to leave until Kimia is found, after receiving a strange phone call, Shideh does find Kimia, but the doll is mutilated, this upsets Dorsa. Shideh promises Dorsa that they will escape, but the Dorsa she goes down to the shelter with is an apparition, she goes back to the house and rescues the real Dorsa, before they are stopped and attacked by the chador apparition. Shideh urges Dorsa to get out, the floor begins to suck her down, but Dorsa rescues her and the two get away to the car, they drive away to Iraj's parents, but it is revealed that Kimia's detached head was left behind and Shideh's medical textbook is still in the djinn's possession, this implies they may harassed again. Also starring Arash Marandi as Dr. Reza, Behi Djanati Atai as Pargol, Hamid Djavadan as Mr. Fakur and Soussan Farrokhnia as Mrs. Fakur. Rashadi's performance is empathetic and powerful, there are a few scenes where you probably see something, but most of the terror comes from the claustrophobia, the wartime setting, dramatic sounds and your mind playing tricks on you, it is an interesting alternative to a haunted house movie, a creepy and well made psychological horror. It won the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for Babak Anvari, and it was nominated for Outstanding British Film of the Year. Very good!