Under the Shadow (2016)

directed by Babak Anvari
Iran
84 minutes
3.5 stars out of 5
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Set in Tehran in the middle of the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s, Under the Shadow provides a backdrop of real-life horror to its supernatural threats, and the two compliment each other perfectly well. The "shadow" in the title is an allusion to the rules and regulations set in place by Iran's ruling parties at that time, but it also serves as a double entendre to refer to the being(s?) haunting the main character's home. This is a recurring theme: Metaphors applicable to both real-life unrest and less tangible horrors.

It's not afraid of looking like a product of its time, which is almost the most interesting thing about it. I've spoken before about the 80s revival going on in American cinema for the past couple of years, and how it's very easy for anybody to make any movie look good by adding in the right amount of neon lights and synthpop because that's what's popular at the moment. But Under the Shadow takes American viewers somewhere else during the 80s, and not only is it a place of paranoia and danger, it's also a place where there was definitely a culture trying to break through all the strife. The main character wears layered tank tops and bright leggings and dances to Jane Fonda videos. The trappings of the 80s in a setting that is decidedly far removed from mainstream Western 80s-themed media is a refreshing and important perspective to see.

I don't know if I would recommend this to somebody looking first and foremost to be frightened, or to watch a typical supernatural movie, but if you're feeling a little more patient, this is a bit of a new spin on things, both because it involves the actual political climate in Iran and because its villain comes from non-Western sources. I think we (the US) have tried to do a couple films about djinn but they've all inevitably paled in comparison to when that story is told by someone who actually grew up around it.

I did have my share of complaints about this movie but they've mostly been expressed by other people already. Apparently to someone who speaks Persian, the characters' dialogue doesn't sound genuine, and is spoken with an English accent. A lot of things like that I don't really have the platform to criticize given that I neither speak Persian or live in Iran, but as a layman I can say that the script is a bit lacking and it does get to feeling overlong at points, although that could very well just have been my lack of attention span. Still, it uses visuals that are really striking and that I've never seen before, and I'm glad I watched it.