WAR HORROR MOVIE: Under the Shadow (2016)

 

            “Under the Shadow” is a Persian language film that was produced by Qatar, Jordan, and the UK. It was directed by Babak Anvari in his debut. It was filmed in Jordan. The movie has a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was nominated for a BAFTA for Outstanding British Film of the Year.

            The war is set during the War of the Cities in the Iran-Iraq War. This was the series of military attacks by Iraq on Iranian cities to try to lower morale. Shideh (Narges Rashidi) is the wife of a man who has been called up for military service. He wants her to take their daughter Dorsa to live with his parents. She refuses, which you can probably guess is a big mistake. Shideh has been blackballed for leftist leaning. She has been kicked out of medical school. Wow, caught between Saddam’s bombs and her own government’s secret police. That’s the least of their worries because there is an evil spirit in their apartment building. the spirit is a djinn which is a from Arabic mythology. They can be either positive or negative. Guess which one this one is.

            Well, I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree with the critics on this one. First of all, this is not a scary movie. It takes a long time for the ghost to show up and when it does, it is nothing special. It is unclear what the spirit wants. The effects are not worthy of a supposedly great horror movie. The spirit is not creepy. There is no gore, in case you are wondering if that is why it is considered a horror movie. On the plus side, the acting is good, especially by Avin Manshadi as Dorsa.

            Since the movie is not clearly a war movie, I certainly would not recommend it to war movie lovers. However, you might want to watch it to determine whether me or the experts are correct. Maybe I am wrong. Let me know.

            GRADE = D