Babak Anvari's Under the Shadow is a poignant examination of theological oppression masquerading as a horror film, a story detailing an Iranian woman who struggles to define herself under the Iranian regime of the 1980s. Taking place in post-revolution, war-torn Tehran, Under the Shadow's opening scene finds our main protagonist having her dreams crushed, with her past political activism during the revolution making her deemed unfit to study medicine by those in power. Threatened nightly by the possibility of aerial strikes, this woman and her daugher live in a state of constant fear and anxiety, having very little control over their livelihoods. When her husband is sent to the frontlines, she is left alone with her daughter, with the two of them beginning to be haunted by a mysterious evil which seemingly only comes out at night. A well made horror film full of tension and impending dread, Under the Shadow is a very effective exercise in terror and fear itself, exhibiting how the imagination can run rampant when danger lurks around every corner. The supernatural elements of Under the Shadow could easily be interpreted as something which is completely in the psyche of our main protagonist, being a symbolic representation of an oppressve theology, one that not only threatens our main protagonists' livelihoods but that of her own daugher's ability to live a full life. While the fear associated with the airstrikes certainly plays a factor into the film's study of terror, fear, and anxiety, Under the Shadow lays the seeds earlier to be something much more compelling, showcasing how this woman is extremely liberal considering the environment she inhabits. From her desire to work, to her ability to drive, Under the Shadow showcases a woman who does not adhere to the restrictive nature of the Quran, unwilling to submit to the ultra conservative regime behind closed doors. When the evil presence does arrive it doesn't simply haunt this woman, it also repeatedly tries to turn her own daughter against her, a seduction that seems far too remenscient of an individual conforming to a theological doctrine. This battle for survival against a supernatural foe mirrors a mother's fight for her daughter's independence, unwilling to let this hostile presence seduce her own flesh and blood. Babak Anvari's Under the Shadow is a brooding atmospheric exercise in horror and so much more, using the horror genre to deliver a powerful study of fear, anxiety, and theological oppression, exhibiting one woman's battle for not only herself but her daughter's independence.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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