Ali Abbasi’s “Holy Spider”

Holy Spider (2023)

Thrilling, thoughtful and multilayered story based on true events as a female journalist investigates a prolific serial killer in a conservative Iranian city

Deying all the odds, Iranian cinema in recent years has been punching above its weight despite government interference with Panah Pahi’s “Hit the Road” and Jafar Panahi’s “No Bears” in 2022 alone and genre films like Babak Anvari’s “Under the Shadow” and Ana Lily Amirpour’s “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” showing they’re not limited to drama. Here, Ali Abbasi delves into the crime genre but as with all these films, there’s a political undertone that’s core to the story. In the same way “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” was filmed outside Iran, Abbasi filmed “Holy Spider” in Jordan.

First, this is a really effective and accessible film that crams a lot into its runtime while never feeling contrived or forced. This is in part due to a great performance from Zar Amir Ebrahimi who plays journalist Arezoo Rahimi who has travelled alone from Tehran to the holy city of Mashhad where a prolific serial killer is preying on women. Conservative local attitudes and misogyny are rife, and upon arrival she is faced with barriers.

Where Abbasi succeeds with a screenplay co-written by Afshin Kamran Bahrami is its use of perspective be it from men and women, journalist or serial killer. It’s also a script full of tension that balances all its messages with such natural grace that it never feels like one thing (thriller, political commentary, drama) but something fresh.

As with Santiago Mitre’s “Argentina, 1985”, this manages to be profound while also being accessible. I highly recommend it.