Review of The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) by Sameer M — 22 Mar 2010

Iran, 1986: Freidoune Sahebjam (Jim Caviezel) is a reporter planning on leaving Iran for France. His car breaks down in a small village. Well waiting for repairs he is approached by Zahra (Shoreh Aghdashloo), who connvinces him to listen to her story, the story of her neice Soraya who's husband seeks a divorce to marry a younger woman. Soraya is determined to insure a future for her daughters but doesn't realize the lengths to which her husband will go and how quickly culture, corruption, cowardice and religion will turn her friends and family against her.

Based on a true story. Featuring some great acting (especially from Aghdashloo and Mozhan Marno). This can be a difficult movie to watch, fair warning the film doesn't skimp on the stoning depicting Soraya's fate in grim relentless detail. Once Iran was a center of culture and learning, art and beauty. This film takes place after the Islamic Revolution when fanatics and the corrupt swept that aside in favor of a new dark age bringing a cancer to humanity and darkness to the world. Watching the film one is remainded of Edmund Burke's famous quote "The Only thing needed for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing". Several good men allow themselves to be bullyied or led into Soraya's murder. Difficult and heartbreaking this is still one of the best films of the last decade.