Under the Shadow
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Babak Anvari |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Babak Anvari |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Gavin Cullen |
| Cinematography | Kit Fraser |
| Edited by | Christopher Barwell |
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Production
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Wigwam Films
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Release date
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Running time
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84 minutes |
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| Language | Persian |
| Box office | $120,897 |
Under the Shadow (Persian: زیر سایه Zir-e Sayeh) is a 2016 internationally co-produced horror film written and directed by Iranian-born Babak Anvari as his directorial debut. A mother and daughter are haunted by a mysterious evil in 1980s Tehran, during the War of the Cities. The film stars Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Ray Haratian, and Arash Marandi.
Produced by British film company Wigwam Films, the film is an international co-production between Qatar, Jordan, and the United Kingdom. The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and has been acquired by US streaming service Netflix. It was selected as the British entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.
Amidst the terrors of war-torn post-revolutionary Tehran in the 1980s, former medical student Shideh is barred from resuming her studies because of her involvement with student leftist groups. Upon returning home, she gets rid of most of her old medical textbooks, but keeps a book of medical terminology gifted to her by her recently deceased mother. The war intensifying, Shideh elects to stay in the city with her daughter Dorsa despite the protests of her husband Iraj, a doctor who is called by the military and assigned to an area of heavy fighting. Iraj wants Shideh to take Dorsa and stay with his parents in a safer part of the country, but Shideh, irritated at his offhand response to her barring, refuses. Dorsa is upset to see her father go, and Iraj promises her that her favorite doll, Kimia, will protect her.
A new boy moves in with the neighboring Ebrahimi family, who are his cousins; his parents were killed in an attack. During a shelling, he whispers something into Dorsa's ear and hands her a charm to ward off evil spirits. Dorsa tells Shideh that the boy told her about the legend of the Djinn, and that the charm would protect her, though Shideh throws it away while cleaning Dorsa's room. Shideh visits Mrs. Ebrahimi and asks her to tell her relative to not scare Dorsa with ghost stories, but a surprised Mrs. Ebrahimi informs her that the boy has been mute ever since the deaths of his parents. Dorsa develops a fever and has a slew of nightmares, and Shideh is also haunted by similar bad dreams.
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Wikipedia