Under the Shadow (2016)

Director: Babak Anvari

Starring: Narges Rashidi,  Avin Manshadi

As a mother and daughter struggle to cope with the terrors of the post-revolution, war-torn Tehran of the 1980s, a mysterious evil begins to haunt their home.

Well, I must be honest I did not expect this to be as good as it was. This low budget supernatural thriller was highly effective and terrifying. Narges Rashidi was excellent as the stubborn mother – upset with the world because she was denied finishing her medical studies due to her involvement during a revolution. While their town is still under attack from Iraq, the tension inside her apartment slowly builds from suspenseful to creepy to terrifying. There’s a lot of unexpected jump-scares, and some really great visuals. Absolutely brilliant.

In Persian.