Under the Shadow

Under the Shadow

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Babak Anvari
Produced by
  • Emily Leo
  • Oliver Roskill
  • Lucan Toh
Written by Babak Anvari
Starring
Music by Gavin Cullen
Cinematography Kit Fraser
Edited by Christopher Barwell
Production
company
Wigwam Films
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 23 January 2016 (2016-01-23) (Sundance)
  • 30 September 2016 (2016-09-30) (United Kingdom)
  • 7 October 2016 (2016-10-07) (United States)
Running time
 84 minutes[1]
Country
Language Persian
Box office $120,897[3][4]

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[5] and has been acquired by US streaming service Netflix.[6] It was selected as the British entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.[7]

Plot

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. 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. During the shelling of the city, a missile strikes their building, leading to the death of an upstairs neighbour. Dorsa's behaviour becomes increasingly disturbed. She desperately hunts for her lost doll and believes there is an evil presence in the house.

Mrs Ebrahimi, devout wife of the building's owner, becomes convinced a Djinn has attached itself to the family and is targeting the little girl.

One by one the neighbours leave to escape the fighting until Shideh and Dorsa are the only two left in the building. Shideh also begins to suffer from nightmares and waking visions.

Cast

Release

The film's global premiere was in January 2016 at the Sundance Film Festival. The rights to the film were subsequently acquired by streaming service Netflix; Vertical Entertainment and XYZ Films will assist in VOD releases and a limited theatrical showing starting on 7 October in the United States.[8]

Critical reception

Based on 53 reviews, Under the Shadow holds a 98% "Certified Fresh" rating and an average score of 8.1/10 on Rotten Tomatoes, with its crtics consensus reading, "Under the Shadow deftly blends seemingly disparate genres to deliver an effective chiller with timely themes and thought-provoking social subtext".[9] The film currently holds a score of 86/100 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".[10] Indiewire praised its spin on the narratives of the horror genre,[11] and The Hollywood Reporter praised Rashidi's performance and Anvari's directing.[12]

On 9 July 2016, the film received the H.R. Giger Narcisse prize for the Best Movie at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Under the Shadow (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Ide, Wendy (23 January 2016). "'Under The Shadow': Sundance Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "'Under the Shadow' (2016) International Box Office Results". Boxofficemojo. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Under the Shadow". The Numbers. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "Sundance Review: 'Under the Shadow' is the First Great Horror Movie of the Year". 23 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Setoodah, Ramin (21 January 2016). "Sundance: Netflix Acquires Iranian Horror Movie 'Under the Shadow' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  7. ↑ McNary, Dave (21 September 2016). "Iranian Horror Movie 'Under the Shadow' Selected as U.K. Foreign-Language Oscar Entry". Variety. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Vertical, XYZ In Global Pact For 'Under The Shadow'; Deal Covers Theatrical, VOD – Sundance". January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes - Under the Shadow". Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Metacritic - Under the Shadow". Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Sundance Review: 'Under the Shadow' is the First Great Horror Movie of the Year". January 23, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  12. ↑ Rooney, David (January 23, 2015). "'Under the Shadow': Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  13. ↑ O'Keeffe, Christian (9 July 2016). "Neuchâtel 2016: Iranian Horror UNDER THE SHADOW Wins Grand Prize". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved 28 September 2016.

External links

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