Holy Spider Reveals Iranian Brutality

Release Date：Oct/22/2022

Genre：Crime/Drama/Thriller

Director：Ali Abbasi

Cast：Zar Amir-Ebrahimi、Mehdi Bajestani

Viola's Rating：7.8

From 2000 to 2001, 16 Iranian women were killed by a serial killer Saeed Hanaei, whose murders were referred to as the “spider killings.” On Oct 28, 2022, the feature film, Holy Spider, which is based on this true event was released limited in the U.S. It was not only selected as the Danish entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, making the shortlist, but also won the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

Based on a true story, this dramatic crime thriller describes how a journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of prostitutes by the so called “Spider Killer,” who believes that he is cleansing the streets of sinners.

Saeed Hanaei, the prototype of the leading character, was a father of three children. It created a contrast between his identity as the spider killer and his private life. In Holy Spider, Hanaei’s family life is also depicted, making the audience wonder even more the reason behind all these murders.

Like the Hong Kong film Limbo, which also talks about a serial killer whose preys are always prostitutes, Holy Spider demonstrates the underclass in Iran. Unlike Limbo, which is a black and white flick, Holy Spider dumps the Iranian brutality in the face of moviegoers directly with details of the murder, which may cause discomfort to some people.

According to the director, the initial draft of the script followed the true event more faithfully, but the protagonist, the female journalist, was later added to the script in order to emphasize the misogyny in the motion picture as well as in Iran. Not only do the prostitutes receive criticism in Iran, but also the women who embrace Western culture and value women’s freedom of speech. 

Holy Spider wants to draw attention to what’s happening in Iran through the true story of the spider killer. What’s scarier than the serial killing itself is that there’s a bunch of people in Iran actually supported him and thanked him for what he did. Although the movie doesn’t spend a lot of time discussing this phenomenon, what’s shown in Holy Spider already declares the moral and religious view of the general public on such topic. Since the picture is based on a true event, the ending shouldn’t be shocking, but seeing the reaction from the public in Holy Spider could still be surprising for the audience.

As an Iranian Danish director, Ali Abbasi didn’t make Holy Spider to make Iran look bad, but to present the actual attitudes towards women in general and how Iranian conceive of prostitutes. This feature film is not yet too heavy, but there are some brutal scenes that are breathtaking and could serve as some food for thought.

Picture Credit: IMDb