I had the opportunity to watch this for the second time in theaters; this time a Q&A with director Ali Abbasi and the film’s lead, Zar Amir Ebrahimi followed the screening, in which they spoke about the difficulty in shooting, casting and getting this film finally made, considering the obstacles they faced along the way. 

For a more comprehensive review of Holy Spider, please refer to/read my first review of the film, here. 

‼️SPOILERS BELOW‼️

This time around, I’d like to just provide a focused analysis of the film’s ending — specifically, the scene of the execution. The first thing to note is that because this is based on a true story, it couldn’t have been done any other way.…

Oh boy. A solid film but also problematic on so many levels.
Let's start with the positives.
It is definitely tense, realistic and brutal. It's visceral and the subject matter is undoubtedly important, considering the atrocities women are facing not only in Iran but all around the world daily at the hands of men.
From a technical standpoint, it is shot in a gritty way and it is very effective at putting you right in the middle of the terror. The main character of Arezoo was very well written and explored. Her performance was solid, as were the rest of the performances in the film.
The idea about the religious extremism and societal reaction to the killings is well worth…

Ali Abbasi’s compellingly indignant “Holy Spider” is sure to be compared to any number of modern serial killer movies, but its true-crime subject — an Iranian construction worker who strangled at least 16 sex workers in Masshad as part of his misogynistic crusade to “cleanse the city of corruption” — wasn’t exactly in the same league as the Zodiac or the night-stalker from “Memories of Murder.” On the contrary, Saeed Hanaei (Mehdi Bajestani, endowing his role with the everyman banality of a martyr in need of a cause) couldn’t have been much clumsier about the finer points of his mission.

A married father of three who dumped all of his victims at the same place after suffocating many of them…

Another movie I learned about due of the numerous discussions it sparked on this site. But Sin's compelling piece convinced me to take a look.

And indeed, this is a very somber piece, a film grounded not in fiction but in a true and tragic reality that affects society's most marginalized members; in this case, sex workers in a country where, perhaps more than any other, they are seen as despicable beings who offend God to the point that someone who takes them out of the equation, out of the world forever, is pictured as a hero by an extremist sector. This is addressed early on in a really harrowing opening, and the ideas and commentary continue right up to…

The systematic oppression of Iranian women couldn't have been a more relevant theme for now, and it takes an Iranian director like Ali Abbasi who fears no more to fully dissect the heinous reality with zero filters.

Based on the story of real-life serial killer Saeed Hanaei, Holy Spider takes shots at the ugly belly of the Iranian "holy city" Mashhad, where prostitutes were being targeted and brutally murdered in the same of "cleansing the streets". Nudity, sex and gore are presented galore, although the plot itself doesn't offer too much substance to chew on other than a formulaic retelling.

Most of the credit should be given to the ensemble, which consists of Cannes best actress winner Zar Amir Ebrahimi,…