10 Underrated Ghost Story Movies You Need To See

Set in Tehran at the tail end of the Iran-Iraq war, critical darling Under the Shadow sees a mother, Shideh (Narges Rashidi), and her young daughter (Avin Manshadi) become terrorised by malevolent Djinn when an unexploded missile falls through the roof of their apartment block.

While there are a handful of effective jump scares to be found here, the bulk of writer-director Babak Anvari’s BAFTA-winning picture relies on its uneasy atmosphere to instll fear. With Shideh’s husband called away to serve in the military, and the rest of the tenants fleeing the city, the sense of isolation is palpable and emphasised through the apartment’s eerie silence which dominates the soundscape.

Despite the constant bombardment, the missiles are the least of the family’s worries. Even Shideh being caught with her VCR player could lead to just as disastrous of consequences as anything the spirits could do to her.

There’s far more lurking under the surface of Under the Shadow than the standard haunted house affair. Part feminist allegory of motherhood, part exploration of wartime trauma, Anvari has effectively woven plenty of substance into the script for viewers to sink their teeth into whenever they’re not being thoroughly frightened by the ghostly goings-on here.