Under the Shadow (2016)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Under the Shadow (2016) – B. Anvari

Set in Tehran during the ‘80s (near the end of the lengthy Iran-Iraq war), director Babak Anvari uses the ghost story genre to raise questions about gender roles in society (a critique that applies not only to the Middle East).  When her husband, a doctor, is called to duty in the warzone, Shideh (Narges Rashidi) is left to take care of their young daughter, Dorsa, on her own.  All seems fine (apart from Shideh’s stresses and the sexism directed against her) until a missile strikes their building, neighbours begin to flee the city, and Dorsa loses her favourite doll.  Soon, Dorsa is reporting that another woman promising to be a better mother has been talking to her. Shideh herself begins to see things moving in the apartment. One of the remaining neighbours begins claiming that there is a Djinn in the building, supposedly invited by the mute orphan she has taken in.  Indeed, the ghost appears in a full burka (or chador but we don’t see a face – perhaps invisible in there!) threatening Dorsa even as Shideh knows they must flee to the basement bomb shelter. In the end, apart from a few solid jump scares, the film is less scary or spooky than it is thought-provoking,  Not surprisingly, Anvari filmed this outside of Iran and its censors.