Holy Spider

Name: Holy Spider
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: October 28, 2022
Duration: 116 min
Rating: 66
Cast: Alice Rahimi, Arash Ashtiani, Ariane Naziri, Firouz Ageli, Forouzan Jamshidnejad

2022

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Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Ratings

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6.7

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6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Ratings

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Holy Spider (US Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

Cinéart | Release Date: October 28, 2022 | Not Rated

Starring: Alice Rahimi, Arash Ashtiani, Ariane Naziri, Firouz Ageli, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Mehdi Bajestani, Mesbah Taleb, Nima Akbarpour, Sara Fazilat, Sina Parvaneh, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi

Summary: Female journalist Rahimi (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer who believes he is doing the work of God, cleansing the streets of sinners by murdering sex workers. As the body count mounts and Rahimi draws closer to exposing his crimes, the opportunity for justice grows harder toFemale journalist Rahimi (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer who believes he is doing the work of God, cleansing the streets of sinners by murdering sex workers. As the body count mounts and Rahimi draws closer to exposing his crimes, the opportunity for justice grows harder to attain as the Spider Killer is embraced by many as a hero. Based on the true story of serial killer Saeed Hanaei.… Expand

Director: Ali Abbasi

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Crime

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 116 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Tara Brady

Jan 20, 2023

It’s a cracking, effective thriller, powered by uneasiness, and made all the more potent by the recent death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old killed in police custody after being detained for violating the Islamic Republic’s dress code for women. Read full review

Andy Howell

Sep 13, 2022

The brilliance of Holy Spider is how it takes all the gripping, lurid suspense of the serial killer thriller, turns it on its head, and takes it to the next level as symbolic of a corrupted, misogynistic society. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Oct 26, 2022

It’s impossible not to see this character and this riveting performance by Amir-Ebrahimi and not think of the brave women protesting their treatment and status right now on the streets of Iran’s cities. Arezoo, like hundreds of thousands of her sisters, persists. Read full review

Mark Hanson

Sep 9, 2022

Holy Spider trickily manages to bridge the gap between social realism and exploitation cinema in a way that hints at how both are rooted in a similar place of gritty authenticity. Read full review

The Playlist Jihane Bousfiha

May 26, 2022

As a straight-forward thriller, Holy Spider checks off all the boxes that make it an intriguing watch: it maintains a tense tone and has a gripping plot, it transforms into a courtroom drama halfway into its run, and features gritty and stylish visuals. Read full review

Justin Chang

Nov 3, 2022

The story does build, in its second act, to an unsettlingly persuasive indictment of a society that teaches even its youngest members to hate, condemn and destroy women. But did the movie have to fixate so lovingly on that destruction, or make its chief destroyer so compelling? Read full review

Alison Willmore

Oct 28, 2022

It’s not the first film to try to disguise its titillation at violence, in particular against women, with blunt, larger themes. But when those themes are about the structures that enable that violence, the whole enterprise just feels repellent. Read full review

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User Reviews

Higgs8D

Dec 31, 2022

Holy Spider’s rendition of this grisly tale is powerful and precise, It’s profoundly compelling, expertly made, and quite intentionally horrifying.must watch Especially for arzeshis :). 10/10