Under the Shadow 2016

In the war-torn, post-revolutionary Tehran of the 1980s, Shideh, a former medical student, is prevented from continuing her education due to her association with leftist student groups. Although she discards her medical textbooks, she clings to a book on medical physiology that was gifted to her by her late mother. As conflict escalates, Shideh chooses to remain in the city with her daughter, Dorsa, despite her husband Iraj’s pleas to take them to the safety of his parents’ home. Iraj, a doctor summoned for military duty, assures Dorsa that her beloved doll, Kimia, will guard her.

Their lives become intertwined with that of a boy from the Ebrahimi family. This boy, who lost his parents in an attack, moves in with his cousins. During a shelling, he shares a secret with Dorsa, gifting her a charm intended to fend off evil spirits. Intrigued yet skeptical, Shideh dismisses the charm after Dorsa mentions the boy’s tale of the Djinn. Later, she learns from Mrs. Ebrahimi that the boy has been mute since the tragedy.

As the war rages on, Dorsa falls ill and both mother and daughter are haunted by terrifying nightmares. The intensity of Shideh’s PTSD from living in this chaotic environment deepens, though she refuses to acknowledge it. A missile strike leads to the disappearance of Kimia amid the chaos, throwing Dorsa into a state of distress as she claims to sense a strange entity in their home, compelling her to seek Kimia on the upper floor.

With the neighboring families departing in search of refuge, Mrs. Ebrahimi warns Shideh about the dangerous nature of djinns, who are known to possess the unsuspecting and take cherished possessions. As the building grows emptier, Shideh finds her own belongings mysteriously vanishing, which amplifies her anxiety. Nightmares escalate into terrifying visions of a ghostly chador. Eventually, Dorsa confesses she sees these same spirits, which fuels Shideh’s determination to leave. However, Dorsa refuses to abandon their home until Kimia is recovered.

Shideh receives a distressing call that appears to be from Iraj, only for the voice to verbally attack her for being a negligent mother. In her search for Kimia, Shideh succumbs to despair upon discovering the doll in a mutilated state; she painstakingly repairs it with tape. Just as they prepare to escape, an air raid alarm causes panic.

Rushing to the shelter, Shideh hears Dorsa scream, inciting a wild fear that she may have left behind a ghostly version of her. She frantically returns to their dwelling only to be confronted by a terrifying apparition beneath their bed. Ultimately, she finds the real Dorsa and they manage to flee from a sinister presence. Driving towards Iraj’s parents, Shideh faces a grim realization: Kimia’s head has been abandoned, and her medical textbook remains in the djinn’s grasp, hinting that their nightmare may not be over just yet.