La Lapidation de Soraya M.

After watching the injustice and betrayal that Soraya, the lead character, suffered in this film I can no longer be silent about the injustice going on in this world today. The human rights violations happening in our world stabs at the heart of human dignity. The story starts off slowly and builds to a brutal and bloody ending that I did not expect. It sheds light on how one man's selfishness can incite a mob mentality against an innocent woman. The lack of compassion in the villagers is astounding, but the silence of justice is deafening. See this film as soon as you can! It is informative, life-changing and it makes you reevaluate what side of good and evil you really stand on. Choosing to not speak out is the same as condoning the crime.

I must begin with explaining that I have an extraordinarily high tolerance for graphic imaging. I've seen "A Serbian Film", "Antichrist", and the "Human Centipede"....non of which caused me to feel sick to my stomach.

"The Stoning of Soraya M." crushed me from the inside out. The sorrow that flows from the women in this film will follow you for the rest of your days. You'll see one particular scene (hint: its in the title) in your dreams. This film doesn't allow the viewer to choose between crying and having their stomachs flipped twelve times around; the viewer will experience both...to an extreme.

The plot is relatively simple. I've decided makes this film so much better. You don't have to try to keep up with a thousand mini-plots. You just have to try to stomach the main event.If you make it all the way through the last scene, take a moment to remember the message that came across your screen before the first scene takes off...."based on a true story."

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.

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.