Under the Shadow

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Under the Shadow

PG-13

2016

1h 24m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

99%

Tomatometer

93 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

After Shideh's building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a superstitious neighbor suggests that the missile was cursed and might be carrying malevolent Middle-Eastern spirits. She becomes convinced a supernatural force within the building is attempting to possess her daughter Dorsa, and she has no choice but to confront these forces if she is to save her daughter and herself.

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Critics Consensus

Under the Shadow deftly blends seemingly disparate genres to deliver an effective chiller with timely themes and thought-provoking social subtext.

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Elizabeth King

Bitch Media

Feb 17, 2021

Under the Shadow may not be as jump-and-scream frightening as The Babadook, but the mother-daughter narrative of surviving war shouldn't be missed.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

The Blue Lenses

Aug 25, 2018

Under the Shadow demands that we feel history as much as intellectually acknowledge it. Its important lessons cannot be taught through dates and names, but through something far more visceral, intoxicating and memorable.

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Angie Han

Slashfilm

Jun 14, 2017

8/10

The genius of Under the Shadow lies in the way it builds up the tension: slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, until I suddenly realized I was wound so tightly I wanted to scream.

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Kyle Logan

Cultured Vultures

Feb 17, 2026

The horror of the film moves deftly between classic spectral horror, difficulty discerning reality from hallucinations, and the all too real horror of living in a warzone to create a feeling of inescapable dread.

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Matt Patches

Polygon

Oct 22, 2021

Much like in The Babadook, first-time director Babak Anvari allows the question of the supernatural to orbit the action of Under the Shadow.

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Jason Adams

My New Plaid Pants

Jul 14, 2021

You've got to push through the first forty or so minutes of Under the Shadow to get to the good stuff, but when it comes it comes with jack-in-the-box fierceness and doesn't let up

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John T

@RT25337669 1 day ago

Extremely well made. Great actors and true jump scares in a world already unimaginable to many.

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R T

@RT91105744 2 days ago

Sleeping would be a better use of your time. Don’t trust the high reviews—it must be a glitch, a mistake, or someone paying for reviews. This movie really had nothing much going for it; simple dialogue, characters repeatedly making infuriating decisions, no real plot, not scary AT ALL. The whole thing takes place in an apartment and the monster is just a person wearing a patterned sheet. An episode of Scooby Doo would be scarier. **Spoiler alert: the final scene involves the mom wandering around looking for her daughter within the monster’s sheet; kind of like when kids play with a parachute and sit underneath it. Felt like a low-budget film a student might make for their class project. The Ring, Ex Machina, The Exorcist, The Conjuring—those are 5-star scary, creepy movies. Folks that rated this movie so highly are way out of calibration on the horror movie rating scale.

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Robert P

@Superbad 3 days ago

Under The Shadow is a *4* star Movie!

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Kip K

@Kippper Sep 27, 2026

I would give it zero star but it’s absolutely one the worst films I’ve seen. Not only is it not scary but critics should be ashamed of their reviews. Maybe they were watching a different movie. SO TERRIBLE. DO NOT WATCH. BIGGEST WASTE OF TIME!!!!!

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JPadel T

@RT21826429 Sep 20, 2026

I had to come and create an account after all this time just to tell you: DON'T WATCH THIS. I dont know what IS going with the reviews..but they are fake or people dont have taste anymore. If you want to find stupid characters making bad decisions and being insufferable throughout the entire movie, please don't hit play—nothing interesting happens. Cheers.

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Melanie A

@melanierstacey Aug 30, 2026

Super creepy...shows just enough. Loved it!

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Babak Anvari

Director

Narges Rashidi

Shideh

Avin Manshadi

Dorsa

Bobby Naderi

Iraj

Ray Haratian

Mr. Ebrahimi

Arash Marandi

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Synopsis

After Shideh's building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a superstitious neighbor suggests that the missile was cursed and might be carrying malevolent Middle-Eastern spirits. She becomes convinced a supernatural force within the building is attempting to possess her daughter Dorsa, and she has no choice but to confront these forces if she is to save her daughter and herself.

Director: Babak Anvari
Producer: Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh
Screenwriter: Babak Anvari
Distributor: XYZ Films, Vertical Entertainment
Production Co: Wigwam Films
Rating: PG-13 (Terror|Scary Images|Brief Language)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Persian
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 7, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 17, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $25.8K
Runtime: 1h 24m

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