La Lapidation de Soraya M.

Thirty minutes into this film you completely forget you are watching a movie. You are THERE, plain and simple. It's a lot like United 93 in that sense ... realistic, wrenching, and heartbreaking, but something you have to experience. It may be too visceral for critics (also like United 93), but film lovers should definitely seek it out. The ending is not supposed to be a surprise ... we know it is inevitable, and that creates a deep empathy for the character and the injustice she experiences. Yes there are more than a few flaws here. Sometimes the score becomes intrusive and there are some lines that don't work. But if audience involvement is any indication, this is an unqualified success.

I almost didn't go see The Stoning of Soraya because of how graphic I heard it was, but I was invited to an early screening and it blew me away. It's shocking and hard, but I feel like everybody needs to see this movie to understand what these women are dealing with.

Of course we need to be active for women's rights and human rights everywhere, and I hope this will wake people up to it even more. All the physical violence in this movie is played out in emotional violence every day to many women in every country.

This movie is also absolutely beautifully shot with a great score-can't wait to see if it goes up for an Academy Award.

I saw The Stoning of Soraya M. a few months back at a screening, and it was so incredibly poignant that just watching the newly-released trailer brought tears to my eyes. Tears for the woman upon whom this film is based, and tears for many others like her, throughout the world, who have no voice.

The Stoning of Soraya M. is well-paced overall and does a fantastic job of bringing the audiences into Soraya's helpless situation, as we, just as helplessly, witness the malicious or cowardly decisions of others that will eventually lead to her demise.

The film treats Islam with sensitivity and in no way implicates the religion itself in the brutal practice of stoning. Shohreh Aghdashloo's character, a Muslim, decries the stoning as against the will of God.

It is important to note that the film accurately depicts a stoning, and is therefore not for the feint of heart, but seekers of truth and justice will appreciate the candor with which it portrays the gruesome nature of the heinous practice.

I commend Cyrus Nowrasteh, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and the film's producers for their courage in making this film. Thanks to you, "the world will know."

Saw this film recently at a special "pre-screening". The Stoning of Soraya M. is one of the few movies you will vividly remember to your dying day. It is almost unwatchable, yet you can't take your eyes off the screen. To think that women are still going through this today, creates a sense of obligation to see this movie. I can't stop thinking about all the women who encounter this type of injustice around the globe. Shohreh's performance is stunning and she surely deserves an Oscar nomination. She literally has pages of written text on her face, in one glance she communicates so much. Though tough to watch at places, I don't think it any different then the senseless violence in summer blockbusters and horror films. This film is a testament to the hundreds of thousand of voiceless women around the work.

I can't remember the last time I had such a gripping and emotional experience in movie theatre. In the screening I attended there was audible sobbing and gasps throughout a large part of the film.

Sohreh Aghdashloo is excellent in her portrayal of the feisty Zarah. Newcomer Marzhan Marno is equally moving, and sympathetic in her role of the title character. I'll be surprised if come award time these ladies are not recognized for their work.

Though some have criticized the portrayals of the male characters as unbelievable I found them to be very accurate. Let's not pretend that sexism and religious hypocrisy are something new...even in our own society. These are men who abuse religious laws and principals for their own gain and too keep women subservient. However, the director does show other sides of these characters as well, struggling with their own beliefs and decisions (in private as to not show weakness in public).

The film is beautifully filmed as well, with the sweeping shots of the village landscape and the poetic images of chadors moving in the wind.

I never come on IMDb to write reviews, but 'The Stoning of Soroya M.' was such an intense and beautiful film that I had to spread the word. It deserves a much wider release than its getting, because its a breath of fresh air in a summer movie season full of inane comedies and action romps.