UNDER THE SHADOW (2016 - Farsi)

Studio:       Vertical Entertainment
Director:    Babak Anvari
Writer:       Babak Anvari
Producer:  Lucan Toh, Oliver Roskill, Emily Leo
Stars:     Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Arash Marandi, Aram Ghasemy, Soussan Farrokhnia, Behi Djanati Atai, Ray Haratian, Hamidreza Djavdan, Bijan Daneshmand

Review Score:

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Summary:

A mother and daughter confront supernatural terror inside a war-torn Tehran, Iran apartment building.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Shideh is dismissed from her medical school studies because of her past as a political activist. Dejected, Shideh picks up her young daughter Dorsa from neighbor Mrs. Fakur and returns home to her apartment in the same building. Upon hearing the news, Shideh’s husband Iraj suggests Shideh not becoming a doctor might be for the best. Because Iraj already is a doctor, this sparks a heated argument about equality between the couple.

Dorsa begins having recurring nightmares. With the Iran-Iraq War threatening their home city of Tehran, the family regularly takes shelter in the basement with neighbors during air raid alerts. Iraj is drafted and leaves to serve in the military.

Dorsa repeats frightening tales about djinn that she supposedly heard from Medhi, a displaced boy who recently moved in with the Ebrahimi Family. Shideh is surprised to learn Medhi is mute.

Panic ensues when a missile hits the building but does not explode. Pargol insists that Shideh tend to her injured father upstairs while Mrs. Fakur brings Dorsa to the basement. The old man ends up dying.

Dorsa has ongoing difficulty sleeping, which she attributes to djinn. Dorsa loses her beloved doll Kimia and her health begins gradually worsening. Shideh’s Jane Fonda workout videocassette also goes missing, and she blames Dorsa.

Seemingly supernatural activity continues plaguing Shideh, with much of it stemming from a large crack in her apartment’s ceiling. Pargol tells Shideh that something other than shock killed her father when the missile struck. Shideh is attacked by a haunting vision of Iraj.

Shideh finds her missing videotape destroyed in the trash. Dorsa angrily pounds on a neighbor’s door looking for Kimia.

Mrs. Ebrahimi warns Shideh that djinn are real. She adds that if they take a personal belonging, there is no escape. Mrs. Ebrahimi also suggests that the missile did not hit by accident.

Shideh starts researching djinn. She also takes Dorsa to a doctor because of her ongoing illness.

Because of the danger to Tehran, families continue moving out of the apartment building. Shideh wishes to leave too, but Dorsa insists that she cannot go without finding Kimia first.

Supernatural activity continues haunting Shideh and Dorsa as they are alone in the building. Shideh flees outside with her daughter during one encounter and is arrested for appearing in public without her chador.

Shideh returns home where the supernatural encounters and visions continue. Shideh tears up the apartment looking for Dorsa’s doll so that they can finally leave the building. Shideh and Dorsa physically fight after Dorsa claims a mysterious woman told her that Shideh stole Kimia.

In the locked drawer where she stores her keepsake medical book inscribed by her mother, Shideh finds Dorsa’s doll torn apart. Shideh repairs the doll and Dorsa’s fever finally breaks.

The power goes out and another air raid sounds. Shideh takes Dorsa to the basement, but somehow hears her daughter screaming upstairs. Thinking the girl with her is an illusion, Shideh returns to the apartment for Dorsa and ends up attacked by a djinn under the girl’s bed. Shideh returns downstairs to the real Dorsa, who angrily claims again that she was told Shideh stole the doll.

A fluttering sheet attacks Dorsa. Shideh rescues her, but becomes trapped when the floor turns into a black tar substance. Dorsa extends her hand from the staircase and helps pull her mother free. Shideh and Dorsa escape in their car. Unbeknownst to them, Kimia’s head fell off in the cellar during the fray. The book inscribed by Shideh’s mother flutters in the wind.

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Review:

Shideh’s medical school dreams have just been dashed by the youthful indiscretions of her revolutionary past.  Her husband Iraj’s idea of comfort is to suggest they are better off with him being the only doctor in the family.  Shideh would prefer to take Iraj to task for his lack of progressive thinking, even if it is 1980s Iran.  That debate swiftly swims to a back burner once Iraj is drafted into a military tour of duty, leaving Shideh on her own with their young daughter Dorsa.

While the horror of the Iran-Iraq War summons sirens and fire strikes outside, another type of terror takes a different toll inside a war-torn Tehran apartment building.  After an unexploded missile rocks the residence, Shideh and Dorsa’s daily drills of sheltering with neighbors during air raids are suddenly supplanted by the sinister air of something supernatural haunting mother and child.

Dorsa repeats disturbing legends of demonic djinn told to her by a mute boy living downstairs.  Personal items like Dorsa’s beloved doll and Shideh’s contraband Jane Fonda workout tape disappear without explanation.  Shideh would rather join the steady stream of residents fleeing the building for safer quarters, but an intangible presence is not so eager to see her go.  Shideh unavoidably finds herself fighting for psychological survival as much as for physical when she becomes the only wedge shielding Dorsa from this evil entity.  But Shideh may be no help to anyone if she can’t stop her mind from unraveling first.

Fairly and unfairly, Farsi-language festival favorite “Under the Shadow” is repeatedly described as an Iranian “The Babadook.”  Unfairly, because “Under the Shadow” is its own entity with a highly original setting and an exceptional cinematic sensibility for weaving supernatural suspense.  Fairly, because the simple comparison nevertheless accurately summarizes the film’s central focus on an oppressive parental nightmare.

However apt the simile, the fact of the matter is it makes for a safe estimation to surmise that those unsatisfied by the psychological story and cerebral ambiguity of “The Babadook” are unlikely to find favor with “Under the Shadow” for similar reasons.  “Under the Shadow” is very much a multilayered exploration of atmosphere thick with themes of struggling for personal identity, empowerment, and adapting to grief.

Anyone out to experience “Under the Shadow” as a slow-build haunter instead of a socially-charged thinkpiece is still in luck.  Director Babak Anvari slides in subtext so subtly that it complements creeping chills with unobtrusively politicized parallels rather than overpowering the family fear narrative running through the core.  That absence of a heavy hand frees viewers to connect with characters and content on whatever levels they wish.  “Under the Shadow” is equally adept at moving a hand over the mouth in fright or guiding it to the chin for a stroke of contemplative reflection.

Differentiating “Under the Shadow” above all else is its fascinating backdrop of Middle East turmoil.  Whether the threat comes from an unexpected bombing, a nosy neighbor reporting VCR ownership to authorities, or a run-in with police for neglecting to wear a headdress in public, culture-specific danger threatens Shideh from all angles before paranormal paranoia even emerges from the hole in her ceiling.  Anvari masterfully maneuvers each degree of dread to create a relatable sense of societal sadness and inescapable evil continuously closing like a vice grip.

Despite the elevation of its outstanding setting, provocative plotting, and Roman Polanski influences making for an unnerving mood, it is difficult to fully separate “Under the Shadow” from Jennifer Kent’s 2014 horror hit “The Babadook” (review here).  Were the feeling inspired not so similar, “Under the Shadow” would stand taller as a fiercer force of horror filmmaking.

A number of “The Babadook” criticisms come from viewers and reviewers irritated by Noah Wiseman’s unruly little boy character, Samuel.  I feel completely differently, citing Wiseman’s performance as one of the most terrifically memorable ones ever delivered by a child actor.  However, irritated is how I feel about Avin Manshadi as Dorsa in “Under the Shadow.”

Fault is not in the young actress’ portrayal.  Rather, it is in distaste for the character’s particular brand of pouty disobedience.  Whereas Sam’s overactive misbehavior is ringed with sincere affection for defending his mother from imaginary monsters, Dorsa is a boring brat.  Sam’s charm counterbalances obnoxiousness.  Dorsa’s function is facilitating her mother’s frustration and underwriting her character like this undermines an ability to connect with the mother-daughter plight of “Under the Shadow” in the same manner as mother-son in “The Babadook.”

Both films are remarkable achievements in genre cinema for technical execution, entertainment value, and emotional heft.  But the relationship with more resonance ultimately determines any personal preference for one film over the other, as well as how lasting of an impression is left.  “Under the Shadow” could have an even greater impact.  Dorsa and Mister Babadook simply won’t allow it.

Review Score:  75

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