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.
In the 80's, during the war between the Islamic post-revolutionary Iran and Iraq, the former leftist medical student Shideh tries to return to the university but is barred by the dean. The upset Shideh returns home and when her husband Dr. Iraj is assigned to work in a war zone, she refuses to move to his parent's house with their daughter Dorsa. Shideh prefers to stay in her apartment with Dorsa, who loves her doll Kimia and has constant fever. Dorsa is afraid of demoniac Djinns and when Shideh asks who told her about the legend, she tells that her friend that lives downstairs. Shideh visits her neighbor and asks his mother to tell her son to not tell horror stories to Dorsa and she learns that the boy is mute. Then Kimia and Shideh's Jane Fonda workout tape disappear. When a missile strikes their building, the neighbors decide to leave Tehran, but Shideh stays in the apartment with Dorsa, who is increasingly disturbed. Soon Shideh reads about Djinns and finds that there is an evil entity in the apartment. Further she must find Kimia; otherwise Dorsa will be in danger since the Djinn will be attached to her.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Drafted to fight during the Iran-Iraq war, a man leaves his wife, Shideh, and daughter, Dorsa, alone in their apartment during the 1984 Tehran missile attacks. Under the Shadow is a literal representation of an Islamic belief that Djinn are carried by winds into places governed by fear and anxiety, seizing items valued by the individual they want to remain attached to -in this case, little Dorsa's favorite doll. While the rest of the tenants flee both the Djinn they know to occupy the building and the cities bombing raids, Shideh and Dorsa remain alone, searching desperately for the missing doll and at the mercy of both air attacks and the lurking Djinn, who seem intent of separating mother from daughter.—[email protected]
As the devastating Iran-Iraq War draws to a close with the Iraqi bombs raining down on battle-scarred Tehran, a missile embeds itself in the roof of the aspiring doctor Shideh's apartment, and strangely, it doesn't explode. With her husband away in the front line and the building already empty of tenants, the young mother will have to look after her little daughter, Dorsa, all alone, as hair-raising indications of a sinister supernatural presence in the house chill the bone to the marrow. They say that the malevolent entities known only as "Djinns" are drawn by fear, moving from place to place until they latch on to their victims. Could Dorsa's persistent nightmares be an early sign of demonic possession?—Nick Riganas
In 1980s war-torn post-revolutionary Tehran, former medical student Shideh is barred from resuming her studies because of her involvement with student leftist groups. She gets rid of her medical textbooks, but keeps a book of medical physiology given to her by her deceased mother. As the war intensifies, she elects to stay in the city with her daughter, Dorsa, despite the protests of her husband Iraj, a doctor called into military service. Iraj wants Shideh to stay with his parents in a safer part of the country, but she refuses. Iraj promises Dorsa that her favorite doll, Kimia, will protect her.
A boy moves in with the neighboring Ebrahimi family, who are his cousins; his parents were killed in an attack. During a shelling, he whispers something into Dorsa's ear and hands her a charm to ward off evil spirits. Dorsa tells her mother that the boy talked about the legend of the Djinn; Shideh throws the charm away. She visits Mrs. Ebrahimi, who reveals that the boy has been mute since the death of his parents. Dorsa develops a fever and she and Shideh are plagued by nightmares. Shideh's PTSD grows worse from the trauma of living in a war-zone but she is in denial.
A missile strikes their building and Kimia goes missing in the commotion. Dorsa's behavior becomes more disturbed; she insists there is a strange presence in the house, and repeatedly tries to get into the upper floor, believing that Kimia is there. The neighbors begin to leave to escape the fighting. Mrs. Ebrahimi warns Shideh that djinns can possess humans, and will steal a beloved personal item of their victims. The Ebrahimis leave too and Dorsa and Shideh are the only two inhabitants left in the building. Shideh's own items start to go missing. Her nightmares escalate to visions involving a chador that moves like a ghost. Dorsa admits to seeing the same apparitions. Shideh finally wants to leave but Dorsa refuses until Kimia is found. Shideh receives a call seemingly from Iraj but the caller begins to berate her for being a poor mother. Shideh finds a mutilated Kimia, which upsets Dorsa, so she repairs Kimia with tape. When they are about to leave though, another air raid siren goes off.
While going down to the shelter, she hears Dorsa's screams. She panics, believing that the Dorsa she left with is an apparition, and returns home to find the real one. She sees Dorsa under their bed but discovers that it is an apparition. Escaping to the shelter, she finds the real Dorsa. The two are attacked by the chador apparition and escape to the car. Shideh drives them to Iraj's parents. However, it is revealed that Kimia's detached head was left behind and Shideh's medical textbook is still in the djinn's possession, implying they may still be harassed.
