Under the Shadow. An Iranian made film set during the midst of the Iran-Iraq war of the 80's. Not quite sure what to make of this. It's certainly an assured and well made film, but apart from the diaphanous 'djinn' that becomes more and more corporeal during the film as the frazzled mum and her daughter try to cope with the missiles raining down in their neighborhood, there's not much new here.
In fact, i'll put in a big old spoiler here - this film has much in common with Cult Labs favourite film The Babadook, from the annoying kid (here slightly less annoying than the aforementioned brat) who gradually convinces their mother that the house houses a monster (here a djinn, or genie, if you prefer - the djinn in middle eastern lore is far from the wish-granting turban wearing gentlemen of hollywood films and more of a demon), and the mother gradually being accused of abuse, and being mentally unstable (true in the Babadook, here, untrue). However, this film packs far less of an emotional punch than the film that shares its structure and is ultimately not very satisfying. Most of the atmosphere is created by another common trick these days, having a soundtrack that is basically a low register synthesiser whining for ages or the wind blowing.
Not sure i'll watch again, but it's certainly worth 1 watch just to see someone getting attacked by a duvet. 2 1/2 out of 5.
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