A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is... Read allA journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 22 wins & 35 nominations total
Haidar Qaraeen
- Old Man at Bakery 1
- (as Haidar Qara'een)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
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Featured reviews
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!
And deeply unconfortable movie, unless youre under that jolly good feeling of being a psychopat, or your a guy simply stalking on prostitutes for a serial kill...
its a true story about the holy spider, a male serialkiller operating his little fathwa against women selling lust from the porch or the sidewalks of the streets of mashaad , iran, a dangerous lifestyle wherever you are in the world, generally more deadly in the country of persia.
A well knit together and heavily indulged acting from entire cast throws you into a turmoil of fanatism, corruption and depletion of the female nature and excistence, its filmatographic grips gives vibes of intensity of the emotion called angst.
So if you wanna taste scorching feeling of real feel crime, then the grumpy old man recommends ''holy spider'', a film with a deadly sting.
its a true story about the holy spider, a male serialkiller operating his little fathwa against women selling lust from the porch or the sidewalks of the streets of mashaad , iran, a dangerous lifestyle wherever you are in the world, generally more deadly in the country of persia.
A well knit together and heavily indulged acting from entire cast throws you into a turmoil of fanatism, corruption and depletion of the female nature and excistence, its filmatographic grips gives vibes of intensity of the emotion called angst.
So if you wanna taste scorching feeling of real feel crime, then the grumpy old man recommends ''holy spider'', a film with a deadly sting.
A killer trawls the streets of Mashhad City, shows no remorse, regret or shame, there is no pity, for the women that he kills, I'm sure he gets plenty of thrills, as a self-appointed one man vigilante. A journalist begins investigations, in a culture that's built on male foundations, but she's persistent and quite brave, to stop the girls going to graves, and to suffer prejudice, of generations.
It's a brutal depiction of events, as a disgruntled, discontented and disturbed psychopath decides to take the lives of several women who have been left with no choice but to sell themselves on the streets to survive (or not as it turns out). I thought Zar Amir-Ebrahimi was brilliant as the stubborn and relentless journalist who tenaciously puts her own life in peril to track the killer down.
It's a brutal depiction of events, as a disgruntled, discontented and disturbed psychopath decides to take the lives of several women who have been left with no choice but to sell themselves on the streets to survive (or not as it turns out). I thought Zar Amir-Ebrahimi was brilliant as the stubborn and relentless journalist who tenaciously puts her own life in peril to track the killer down.
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...
I watched this film yesterday on the Golden Apricot film festival and its rating of 6.6 makes little sense to me.
It is a crafty film that takes you on a suspenseful trip with moments of well-placed humor.
The Iranian setting is somewhat overdramatized, but I believe that works for the film, rather than against it.
The important note here is that the true Spider Killer received very little to no support from the Iranian society.
The overall setting is somber, it is relatively violent, there is a lot of room given for the personal development of our characters, there is social criticism, great acting, and powerful sound design.
My only criticism is that secondary characters could have given more screen-time to act out their emotional curve, as there performances were really strong.
I strongly recommend this to anyone that loves European film and/or true crime pieces.
Easily an eight!
It is a crafty film that takes you on a suspenseful trip with moments of well-placed humor.
The Iranian setting is somewhat overdramatized, but I believe that works for the film, rather than against it.
The important note here is that the true Spider Killer received very little to no support from the Iranian society.
The overall setting is somber, it is relatively violent, there is a lot of room given for the personal development of our characters, there is social criticism, great acting, and powerful sound design.
My only criticism is that secondary characters could have given more screen-time to act out their emotional curve, as there performances were really strong.
I strongly recommend this to anyone that loves European film and/or true crime pieces.
Easily an eight!
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaA few days after Zar Amir Ebrahimi won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in this film, Iranian officials accused the Iranian-born actress and the movie's Danish-Iranian director, Ali Abbasi, of "blasphemy." Some have even gone further, calling for their executions. The Iranian Organization of Cinema and Audiovisual Affairs, which operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, released a statement calling the film "shameless obscenity," adding that it was "the product of the twisted mind of an Iranian-Danish man", and condemning the Cannes Festival for awarding the film the Best Actress award, calling it "an insulting and politically-motivated move". Ebrahimi also told CNN that she had received around 200 threats after the award ceremony at Cannes. The director of 'Holy Spider' and others involved in making this film have also received similar threats.
- GoofsIn the first scene of Rahimi and Sharifi together, style of Sharifi's sleeves repeatedly changes in different shots.
- Crazy creditsThe title card shows up 11 minutes into the movie.
- How long is Holy Spider?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Araña sagrada
- Filming locations
- Jordan(as Iran)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $307,188
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $16,376
- Oct 30, 2022
- Gross worldwide
- $1,706,583
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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