After Shideh's building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a superstitious neighbor suggests that the missile was cursed and might be carrying malevolent Middle-Eastern spirits. She becomes convinced a supernatural force within the building is attempting to possess her daughter Dorsa, and she has no choice but to confront these forces if she is to save her daughter and herself.
Direction
Anvari weaponizes empty doorways and falling plaster
Sound
The chador becomes the scariest fabric in cinema history
Director
Babak Anvari
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Banned from filmmaking in Iran, Anvari shot in Jordan using Farsi-speaking actors—making this technically not an Iranian film despite being intimately about Iranian trauma.
The djinn folklore specifically targets those who remove their chador improperly; Shideh's defiance of Islamic dress codes literally invites the supernatural punishment patriarchy already threatened.
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