Review of Holy Spider (2022) by Jluis_001 — 28 Apr 2023

It's not usual to have stories where a serial killer of women, in this case prostitutes, lives in a nation/society that sees them as inferior beings. That treats them as inferior beings.

And now believe that when this killer has been caught, a part of the system is going to defend him because there's nothing more predictable than the religious hypocrisy of a sick society that seeks to consume the product and then beat its chest and call it moral corruption.

Holy Spider is based on the true story of Iranian serial killer Saeed Hanaei, who killed 16 women in less than a year, between August 2000 and July 2001, before being captured by police.

Clearly, that plot doesn't lend itself to anything less than the utmost seriousness, and the film pulls it off.

It's tense, atmospheric, uncomfortable and unpleasant tale, and it's not all about the darkness and demons of the perpetrator, because that's one part of the narrative, the other lies in how upon being arrested the killer found support from people and it even becomes clear that pressure is exerted to get him released.

Holy Spider manages to give perspective to both sides of the argument, but even when the topic is so magnificently interesting, its pacing and structure are not very active and can be a bit frustrating. However, even when it can't be considered very objective, its style, tension and social critique keep it afloat and manage to carry it along nicely even with the bumps it encounters along the way.

It's not a pretty straightforward film, but it deserves to be seen.