10 horror hidden gems on Netflix

1. Under the Shadow

Set in 1980s Tehran, Under the Shadow follows aspiring doctor Shideh and her daughter Dorsa during the War of the Cities, when a series of air raids resulted in a massive loss of civilian life. In post-revolutionary Iran, life is very different for Shideh; she is not permitted to continue studying as a doctor as a result of her involvement with leftist groups as a student. Women have lost many of their freedoms in lieu of more conservative ideologies, and even Shideh’s husband, just before being drafted, tentatively suggests that her not going back to medical school could be for the best.

But shortly after an unexploded missile crashes through the roof of their apartment building, Dorsa and Shideh both begin having persistent and vivid nightmares; Dorsa becomes convinced that djinn, malevolent spirits that move on the wind, have found them and taken hold. Shideh doesn’t believe her at first, but when Dorsa falls ill with a mysterious and untreatable fever shortly after her doll goes missing, Shideh is unable to ignore the strange events in her apartment which seem to coincide with it. As the other tenants in the apartment begin to clear out one by one, Shideh and Dorsa are left alone with the horror.

The political and social elements of this film make the horror all the more vivid. At one point Shideh takes Dorsa in a panic and flees to the streets, not thinking to bring any sort of covering as the new laws mandate—as a result, she’s brought to a holding cell and told she could have been lashed for her infraction. The suffocation of Shideh’s stripped freedoms trap her and Dorsa inside the apartment as surely as any supernatural force.

The time is now to start planning your next horror movie marathon. Will any of these gems end up on your next list?