The Sundance Film Festival has only just begun, but Netflix has already bought up the worldwide streaming rights to several films, among them the Farsi-language horror movie UNDER THE SHADOW.
The feature debut of writer/director Babak Anvari, UNDER THE SHADOW stars Narges Rashidi and Avin Manshadi. The story is
set in 1988 Iran, during the bloodshed of the Iran-Iraq War. Shideh and her daughter Dorsa start to believe their family home is haunted by “djinn” — evil spirits that are trying to steal their most prized belongings, including a treasured cloth doll.
Setting a haunting tale in the midst of a war is a very intriguing approach. Given that I really enjoyed the Iran-set A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, that similarity also boosts my interest in UNDER THE SHADOW.
Netflix will be streaming the film by the end of the year, after other distributors have released it theatrically or on another platform.
UNDER THE SHADOW will be screening at Sundance tonight at 11:59pm at the Egyptian Theatre, with two more screenings scheduled for other venues tomorrow.