Holy Spider

'Holy Spider' is the kind of film where if it were a fictional tale you would think what a dark perspective of the world it has chosen to take. The fact that it is based on a true story, and a man like this was actually considered to be doing the work of God, not just by himself but by the public at large as well, is incredibly sobering.

I loved that the film chose to tell the story from two perspectives, the killer and the journalist hunting him. There are certainly times to have some mystery surround your film's antagonist, but this was not one of them. Some of the kill scenes and the scenes where he was coming to terms with what he was doing were extremely well done and some of the strongest moments the film had to offer.

Don't come into this film looking for any kind of light relief. The subject matter is heavy and the film handles itself in like-wise fashion from start to finish. It's a well told story though that will certainly leave audiences with some thinking and reflecting to do. 7.5/10.

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.

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.

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!

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.