Under the Shadow filme irani hast?

Yes. Although co-produced with the UK and Qatar, it was written and directed by Iranian filmmaker Babak Anvari, shot mostly in Jordanian locations standing in for 1980s Tehran, and performed primarily in Persian by an Iranian cast.

Is Under the Shadow suitable for kids or family viewing?

No. The film carries strong horror content including wartime distress, supernatural threats, and intense scenes of fear. It is best suited to adult viewers or mature older teenagers comfortable with psychological horror.

Koja bebinam Under the Shadow ba zir nevis farsi?

Under the Shadow on K-Time includes Persian dubbing, so you can watch it fully in Persian. No subtitle file is required. Stream directly on the web, your TV, or your phone — no VPN needed.

What makes Under the Shadow different from other horror films?

It roots supernatural horror firmly in documented history: the Iran-Iraq War, the cultural restrictions on women in 1980s Tehran, and the daily reality of missile strikes. The djinn functions as both literal threat and metaphor for political and social repression.

Under the Shadow

Name: Under the Shadow
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller, War
Released: 2016
Duration: 84 min
Cast: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Ray Haratian, Hamid Djavadan

Director: Babak Anvari

Cast: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Ray Haratian, Hamid Djavadan

Under the Shadow is a 2016 Iranian-British horror thriller directed by Babak Anvari, set against the backdrop of the Iran-Iraq War. Blending political dread with supernatural terror, the film follows a Tehran mother and her young daughter as an unseen evil closes in on their besieged apartment.

What is Under the Shadow about?

Tehran, late 1980s. Shideh is a former medical student whose political past bars her from returning to university. While her husband serves at the front, she remains at home with their daughter Dorsa as the city endures nightly air raids. When a missile strikes their building and fails to detonate, strange occurrences begin to unsettle both mother and child — objects vanish, whispers fill empty rooms, and Dorsa grows increasingly convinced that a malevolent spirit known as a djinn has followed the missile inside. Shideh must confront forces she cannot name: the siege outside her walls, the grief within herself, and a presence that threatens everything she loves.

Cast & crew

Narges Rashidi delivers the film's emotional core as Shideh, anchoring every scene with restrained intensity. Avin Manshadi is remarkable as Dorsa, bringing genuine unease to a role that demands both vulnerability and conviction. Bobby Naderi appears as the absent husband Iraj, and supporting players including Behi Djanati Atai and Hamid Djavadan populate the crumbling apartment block with lived-in authenticity.

Context & significance

Director Babak Anvari drew on his own childhood memories of wartime Tehran to craft a horror story that is inseparable from its historical setting. The film uses the genre conventions of the haunted-house film — a suffocating single location, a mother protecting her child, a force that cannot be reasoned with — to explore what the Iran-Iraq War did to women who remained behind. For the diaspora, Under the Shadow resonates not only as a ghost story but as a portrait of a generation that survived through sheer, exhausted endurance. The djinn of folklore becomes a vessel for collective trauma, repression, and the claustrophobia of living under siege.

Where & how to watch

Under the Shadow is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing. Watch on your TV, on the web, or on your phone with no extra download and no VPN required. Cancel anytime.