Holy Spider18

Directed by Ali Abbasi | Iran | 2022 | 1h 58m | Persian w/ English subtitles | Starring Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Sina Parvaneh

A darkly atmospheric crime drama inspired by the true story of Iran’s most notorious serial killer. Set in the holy city of Mashhad, journalist Rahimi investigates the murders of several sex workers by the ‘Spider Killer’, who believes he is on a divine mission to cleanse the city of sinners. Led by a compelling performance from Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who won the Best Actress Award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, this is a blistering critique of contemporary Iranian society from the director of the award-winning 2018 Swedish fantasy Border.

Reviews

‘It’s profoundly compelling, expertly made, and quite intentionally horrifying.’
★★★★★
Tim Robey, The Telegraph

‘Abbasi offered a brilliantly leftfield perspective on immigration and otherness with his 2018 debut Border, and his follow-up takes no prisoners in his critique of Iranian society’s built-in misogyny and fake piety.’
★★★★
Phil de Semlyen, Time Out

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We showed Holy Spider between February 11, 2023 and February 16, 2023.

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