Holy Spider

The events that inspired this story made international news. I suspect some of what is on the screen actually happened.

A serial killer is strangling the junkies who work as prostitutes in the holy city. This is controversial, inducing terror and mistrust. No one wants to be killed or suspected, though some openly praise this illegal activity. A very determined journalist comes to town to investigate. We accompany the journalist and meet many characters whose words and actions inform us about the situation. We also learn pretty quickly exactly who is doing the killing by closely following along for some shocking incidents. Who and how is revealed, along with an uncomfortable social context. Much of the movie is an intimate visit with the journalist and the killer whose activities are being investigated, and the suspense increases. After a while the audience is led to suspect that the civil and clerical authorities might be okay with wholesale murder, under certain circumstances, and the journalist will not stop, taking crazy chances.

The artistry is first class throughout. The way all of this is presented makes us feel closer to every character, so we can better consider how we are the same or different, in our social context. Dangerously determined journalist versus homicidal maniac has been done before but this movie is exceptionally good and most entertaining.

As someone who actually lives in the city the events of this movie happened in any bad review of this movie usually containing bad and broken english is not a real person and either is someone trying to make this movie look bad or it is someone working for the corrupt islamic regime of iran, this movie perfectly shows the social situation of iran and the city mashhad especially ,women are treated unjustly and un-equally even this movie is labeled as "dishonoring holy beliefs" and therefore is illegal and dont get me started on the cencorship laws perventing this movie ever going on screen in iran atleast under the islamic regime ,but anyways the movie.

Unfun fact the interview footage at the end of the movie is based of what the son of saeed hanaee(the spider killers real name) actually said in an actual interview...

Where to even start the cinematography ,the lighting ,the atmosphere the feeling it gives you as characters panic you are on the edge of your seat panic-ing with them everything about this movie is just perfect but a warning to anyone light hearted or anyone who gets uncomfortable easily and all that this movie for lack of a better word decimates you ,at about the halfway point I was physically exhausted and had to take a break ,I noticed I was tense and was contracting muscles in some really disturbing scenes ,This movie is just something else ,A True Masterpiece.

I congratulate the people involved in making this extremely valuable movie. Cinematic works related to Iran that are made outside of Iran without the support of the Iranian government often follow one of these two paths. Either their film is a film with formal games and a bad story (such as Women Without Men and Rhinoceros) or a film that is not refined, which is deliberately produced for an audience in a small geographical area (like almost all films that focus on Iran environment or character) The brightness of the holy spider requires another space to write but I would like to express my sincere thanks to the creators of this work for not stepping in either of those two paths.

Based on a true story of Saeed hanaei,a man who killed 16 sex workers in iran,and branded as a super hero... Though being cruel and shocking,surprisingly reaches to a tight & tense situation of what's happening in iran currently & high society conservatives influencing the monster and symbolising them as saviour of sin indulging in heroic act... Zar Amir ibrahami upholds the movie with her strong morality breaking the stereotypes of women's life in iran...she was honoured with best actress award at the Cannes too... Mehdi bajestani delivers quitely & deadly at times,his body language sends some spine chilling unsettling moments that's hard to beat out... Overall a genuine piece of cinema...

The movie beautifully portrays the injustice that women face in Iran, and how corrupt the justice and jurisdiction system is. I used to live in Iran as a child and I remember the how terribly people were being treated in the name of "Allah and Islam". To me, this movie was extremely thrilling because it resurfaced some of my childhood traumas, and that tells me how relatable and well made this movie is. The actors and actresses were absolutely amazing. Making a movie outside of Iran about inside of Iran is not easy. I can't imagine how difficult it was for the actors and actresses get mentally prepared for their roles and get in character, since they all have been living outside of Iran for a long time. Most interesting movie of the year!