‘Under the Shadow’ Theories, Meaning, Explanation, and Themes

You don’t have to really know what’s going on in Iran to understand what Under the Shadow is really about. It’s a solid horror film all on its own with no context.

However:

I highly recommend reading about Iran’s revolutions (the one going on now, and the ones of the past). Then rewatching this movie. 

That’s what I did, and I found a lot to think about. Here’s my analysis of Under the Shadow.

Screenshot from “Under the Shadow” trailer.

Top Theories About the Meaning and Themes of ‘Under the Shadow’ (2016)

1. The Horror of Oppression

Theory: The Djinn and the haunting chador are metaphors for the suffocating social and political restrictions placed on women in post-revolutionary Iran. Shideh’s inability to resume her medical studies, combined with her forced isolation, creates a haunting where the supernatural becomes an extension of patriarchal oppression.

• Why It Fits:
  • The Djinn manifests after Shideh is told she cannot pursue her dreams. Its chosen form — a chador, a garment she resents — becomes a literal ghost that suffocates her. The spirits prey on her powerlessness, feeding off her frustrations and fears.
• Key Moments:
  • Shideh being banned from medical school.
  • The apparition of the chador following her.
  • The Djinn stealing her medical textbook, symbolizing the theft of her future.

2. Motherhood as a Battleground

Theory: The Djinn represents Shideh’s internal struggle with motherhood under extreme pressure. She resents giving up her ambitions but fiercely loves her daughter. The haunting dramatizes her fear that she isn’t strong enough to protect Dorsa in a collapsing world.

• Why It Fits: 
  • The Djinn targets Dorsa through Kimia, her doll, forcing Shideh to face her worst fear: losing her child. The repaired doll — taped together but still vulnerable — mirrors Shideh’s attempt to hold her family together despite feeling broken herself.
• Key Moments:
  • Shideh desperately searching for the real Dorsa during the apparition’s trickery.
  • Dorsa demanding Kimia before leaving, showing how maternal guilt and love intertwine.
  • The doll’s mutilation and repair paralleling Shideh’s role as a “patched-together” protector.

3. War Trauma Made Flesh

Theory: The Djinn is a manifestation of the trauma and paranoia created by living in a war zone. Air raid sirens, missiles, and destruction leave Shideh and Dorsa psychologically fragile, making them vulnerable to supernatural “invasions.”

• Why It Fits: 
  • The timing of the haunting escalates with the intensification of war. As neighbors evacuate, the isolation compounds the terror, making the apartment block itself feel like a trap where trauma takes monstrous form.
• Key Moments:
  • The missile crash coinciding with Kimia’s disappearance.
  • The ghostly tricks mirroring disorientation and paranoia in wartime.
  • The basement shelter becoming as terrifying as the streets above.

4. Inheritance of Grief

Theory: The Djinn attaches itself to grief, passed down from one generation to the next. Shideh clings to her late mother’s medical book, while Dorsa clings to Kimia. Both objects anchor them to love and loss, which the Djinn exploits.

• Why It Fits: 
  • The film repeatedly shows the Djinn stealing or mutilating beloved possessions. These items are emotional lifelines. The fact that the Djinn ends the story still holding Shideh’s textbook suggests grief and loss are inescapable — they linger even after survival.
• Key Moments:
  • The significance of Shideh’s mother’s book.
  • Kimia being lost, destroyed, and patched.
  • The final shot, where both precious objects remain under the Djinn’s power.

5. Identity Split in Two

Theory: The Djinn creates doubles and illusions because Shideh herself is torn between identities: mother, wife, daughter, student, rebel. The haunting dramatizes her splintered sense of self.

• Why It Fits: 
  • The most terrifying scenes involve Shideh not knowing which Dorsa is real. This could reflect her own internal fear of being two people at once — nurturing caregiver and ambitious woman. The Djinn exploits this fractured identity, preying on her inability to reconcile roles.
• Key Moments:
  • The false Dorsa under the bed.
  • Shideh’s own hallucinations and nightmares.
  • The Djinn appearing in forms that echo suppressed fears (like the chador).

Key Themes in ‘Under the Shadow’

Under the Shadow (2016) takes place in 1980s Tehran, where medical student Shideh is barred from continuing her studies after the revolution. Left isolated with her young daughter Dorsa while her husband is sent to serve in the war, Shideh struggles with the dangers of air raids, social restrictions, and her own frustrations. When Dorsa’s beloved doll goes missing after a missile strike, the child becomes convinced that a malevolent djinn is haunting them. As neighbors flee and Shideh’s visions intensify — often taking the form of a ghostly chador — mother and daughter are left alone to face both the horrors of war and a supernatural force that feeds on fear and loss.

Plot Summary

• Year Released: 2016
• Director: Babak Anvari
• Writer: Babak Anvari

Under the Shadow (2016) takes place in 1980s Tehran, where medical student Shideh is barred from continuing her studies after the revolution. Left isolated with her young daughter Dorsa while her husband is sent to serve in the war, Shideh struggles with the dangers of air raids, social restrictions, and her own frustrations. When Dorsa’s beloved doll goes missing after a missile strike, the child becomes convinced that a malevolent djinn is haunting them. As neighbors flee and Shideh’s visions intensify — often taking the form of a ghostly chador — mother and daughter are left alone to face both the horrors of war and a supernatural force that feeds on fear and loss.

Movies Like ‘Under the Shadow’

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The Babadook (2014)

A grieving mother and her troubled son are haunted by a sinister storybook figure that represents unresolved grief and maternal strain.

—> Watch The Babadook online.

His House (2020)

Sudanese refugees in England are terrorized by a malevolent spirit in their new home, blending supernatural horror with trauma from war and displacement.

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)

In cartel-ravaged Mexico, orphaned children encounter ghostly presences that reflect the violence and loss around them.

—> Watch Tigers Are Not Afraid online.

The Orphanage (2007)

A woman returns to her childhood home-turned-orphanage, where her missing son and ghostly children blur the line between supernatural mystery and maternal grief.

—> Watch The Orphanage online.

The Others (2001)

A mother living in an isolated house with her two photosensitive children faces strange events that explore themes of loss, repression, and denial.

—> Watch The Others online.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

Two sisters returning from a psychiatric hospital face ghostly apparitions in their family home, tied to grief, trauma, and oppressive domestic roles.

—> Watch A Tale of Two Sisters online.

Saint Maud (2019)

A devout hospice nurse’s obsession with saving her patient’s soul spirals into a disturbing battle with faith, repression, and madness.

—> Watch Saint Maud online.

Goodnight Mommy (2014)

Twin boys suspect their mother, recovering from surgery, is not who she seems — a chilling exploration of maternal identity and fractured family bonds.

—> Watch Goodnight Mommy online.

Have Your Own ‘Under the Shadow’ Theory?

I’m really interested in talking about this movie. It’s somehow so much more relevant today, in 2026, than when it came out 10 years ago in 2016.

So I’ll shut up and let you talk now. Hit me with your thoughts and theories about Under the Shadow below.

😱