Holy Spider | Festival films

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Holy Spider

MFF Cannes
Best Actress
2022

A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.

At night, a serial killer in Mashhad is on the prowl, luring victims into his web. The dead are women, prostitutes. While the police ignore the crimes, Rahim, a journalist from Teheran, wanders the dark neighbourhoods of the holy city in search of the truth. Holy Spider is based on a true story, with the title of the film referring to the serial killer's nickname. In 2001, Saeed Hanaei killed sixteen prostitutes in the city of Mashhad, deeming them "impure". His trial created a lot of buzz in Iran, not only because of the horror of what happened, but also because some media and conservative elements made him out to be a hero.

Ali Abbasi

Ali Abbasi is a writer and director. He was born 1981 in Iran and left his studies in Tehran to move to Stockholm, where he graduated with a BA in architecture. He then studied directing at the National Film School of Denmark, graduating with his short film M FOR MARKUS in 2011. His feature debut, SHELLEY premiered at the Berlinale in 2016 and was released in the US. He is best known for his 2018 film BORDER, which premiered in Cannes, where it won the Prix Un Certain Regard. The film was chosen as Sweden’s Academy Award® Entry, was widely released internationally, won the Danish Film Award and was nominated for three European Film Awards including Best Director, Best Screenwriter & Best Film. He is currently shooting the TV adaptation of “The Last of Us” for HBO in Canada.

Watch Ali Abbasi's movie Border on Edisonline.

Directed by
Ali Abbasi
Written by
Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Edited by
 Olivia Neergaard-Holm, Hayedeh Safiyari
Cinematography
Nadim Carlsen
Sound by
Rasmus Winther Jensen
Music by
Martin Dirkov
Starring
Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Sina Parvaneh, Nima Akbarpour

Original title
Holy Spider
English title
Holy Spider
Year
2022
Country
Denmark, Germany, Sweden, France
Language
PER
Subtitles
CZ
Running time
116 min
Genre
Drama, Crime, Thriller
Age rating
15+
Release date
10. 11. 2022

ČSFD

IMDB

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Trailer

Media reception

Screen International

"Audiences of tough crime drama will find themselves ensnared.”

Daily Telegraph

"It’s profoundly compelling, expertly made, and quite intentionally horrifying."

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