Netflix braves the dark, nabbing Sundance Midnighter UNDER THE SHADOW.
Literally hours ahead of the Sundance screening of Iranian supernatural shocker, UNDER THE SHADOW, Netflix, in a surprisingly bold marketing move, has gone and nabbed the worldwide streaming rights to Anglo-Iranian director Babak Anvaris debut feature.
Set to debut as part of Sundances popular Midnight strand, UNDER THE SHADOW is already being tipped to induce a BABADOOK style shock to the system. Penned and directed by Anvari, the Farsi-language feature is set in 1988 Iran amidst the bloodshed of the Iran-Iraq War, relating the tale of Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and her daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi), both convinced their abode is possessed by a devilish djinn.
The less said about Netflixs recent foray into the original movie business with Adam Sandlers aptly-titled THE RIDICULOUS 6 the better, but snapping up UNDER THE SHADOW should restore more than a little bit of faith in whatever it is the on-demand giant has up its sleeves. Netflixs latest booty will air globally later on this year, shortly after either a theatrical or alternative-platform release, although the films theatrical release rights are yet to be revealed.
If you happen to be heading to Sundance, something tells me this is one you dont want to miss out on. Catch it either on Friday at 11:59 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre or on Saturday, noon, at Library Center Theatre or a little later on Saturday at 11:59 p.m. at Tower Theatre in Salt Lake City.
In the meantime, heres an intense scene from the film, boasting some pretty irregular yet seriously impressive cinematography. Itll be interesting to see if the frenetic camerawork proves to be a highly effective or counter-productive gimmick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7w0h8_QttA
Meet the director below in a brief Sundance presentation of the film as he explains exactly where the idea behind the film arose from:
