Perfectly adorable

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This was literally the worst movie ever I'm genuinely mad. It was good only because you thought it was gonna get good but the whole thing is just a bed sheet. Literally so freaking awful don't watch it

From a quick reading of the plot and the poster the first impression may be that of another paranormal themed horror of mediocre quality but if you add the country of origin (Iran) and a difficult and traumatic setting like that in this country during the war against Iraq between 1980 and 1988, then you immediately understand that probably it is not the usual horror. And in fact, despite some elements that refer to that horror cinema already seen and reviewed, used and abused in Hollywood, "Under the shadow" demonstrates with much courage to be much more, something that the genre served with a lot of need, a film that is not limited only to scare, to anguish and disturb (and all this does so optimally, even if not impeccable in the first half) but that tries to give to everything a meaning that is profound, how much enough, but above all that it can give to the various jumpscare and to the dark and disturbing atmosphere an purpose that goes beyond that of instilling fear and fright. Babak Anvari with his very mature and in many moments, as already said, courageous director gives the film the gift of acting as a metaphor, not excessively veiled, that criticizes the society of that period but has not undergone many changes over the years including the current ones, a cold, cynical, disrespectful and claustrophobic society, especially for women, the absolute protagonists of this movie. Really extraordinary a scene in which the terror in the form of veil imprisons almost to stifle or otherwise separate the mother with her daughter, to indicate a society that rejects the unconventional ideals of the first and that tries to protect the child with its own restrictions so as to remove her from the mother and bring her closer to the unfair want of a society too much influence from a religion that in radicalism to women takes away more than giving.

Review (1~5)#Content: Script 3 | Acting 4 | Cinematography 5 | Film Editing 4#Visual: Costume Design 3 | Makeup & Hairstyling 3 | Scenic Design 3 | Lighting 3 | Visual Effects 3#Sound: Score & Soundtracks 3 | Sound Editing & Mixing 3#Overall (1~10): 6

After seeing glowing reviews like: 5/5 The Guardian - 98%Rotten Tomatoes4/4Roger Ebert I thought this movie MUST be great! (or at least fairly good). After sitting through a slow building first half the movie just fizzed out. No real tension and very bland. Not at all memorable ... many better movies out there. All the soaring review have me utterly perplexed ...