I think it brought something with it.
Main Cast: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi
Director: Babak Anvari
I asked the internet what’s the best horror movie on Netflix 90 minutes or less. The internet said THE PERFECTION with Alison Williams from GET OUT and the M3GAN movies.
I then asked the internet is this the scariest horror movie on Netflix? The internet said no, the scariest horror movie 90 minutes or less, according to the internet on that particular day, was UNDER THE SHADOW, a 2016 movie about a Tehran woman and her daughter during the Iran-Iraq conflict.
Hmm, well that’s an interesting choice, all right. So I watched the trailer, and it looked decent enough.
The biggest plus, for me, was that on Netflix this movie was dubbed, which means I didn’t have to read the whole movie. Even at 84 minutes, I was not looking forward to that.
The story is about Shideh (Narges Rashidi,) who is left home in their apartment building with daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) after husband Iraj (Bobby Naderi) gets sent to the middle of the conflict. Shideh is resentful because Iraj is being sent as a doctor the day after she finds out that, because of her political history, she will be unable to re-enter medical school for her own degree.
Iraj insists she should take Dorsa to his parents’ house, but Shideh says she can take care of her daughter just fine, thank you. And then a missile hits the building.
The residents begin to flee the building, but Shideh holds fast. Meanwhile, Dorsa now has a new friend who tells her things. A new friend her mother can’t see. Then when Dorsa’s favorite doll goes missing, Shideh first rejects, then begins to believe the idea it might be a djinn that’s responsible.
UNDER THE SHADOW is from writer/director Babak Anvari, director of another movie I absolutely loved called HALLOW ROAD. Much of the horror here comes from the setting, the middle of a war-ravaged country and the citizens are being told Iraq is going to send missiles directly at you. And then they do!
And then Anvari takes it a step further by adding a mythological demon to the mix.
With over 50 onscreen credits to her name, Rashidi was able to carry the movie and keep the momentum up while perfectly portraying Shideh’s descent into paranoia and belief as the focus of her attention—caring for her daughter—becomes more and more difficult as Dorsa begins to slip away, in thrall to the creature lurking in the building.
Having said that, there’s absolutely no way this is the scariest movie on Netflix, under 90 minutes or not. It has its moments built mostly on jump scares, but as for something that establishes a sense of dread and then carries that through the course of the movie and leaves me looking over my shoulder when I’m home alone that night … nah, this one ain’t it. So the search continues. I mean, if I REALLY wanted to freak myself out while the wife is out of town, I’d just watch THE EXORCIST, but I’m not stupid.
UNDER THE SHADOW is a really good movie. It’s also an okay horror movie. Watch it because it’s good and deserves your attention, not because it’s the best Netflix has to offer.
C. Dennis Moore is the author of over 60 published short stories and novellas in the speculative fiction genre. Most recent appearances are in the Dark Highlands 2, What Fears Become, Dead Bait 3 and Dark Highways anthologies. His novels are Revelations, and the Angel Hill stories, The Man in the Window, The Third Floor, and The Flip.
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