Holy Spider

Story

A series of murderous attacks on prostitutes is keeping the holy city of Maschhad in North-Eastern Iran in suspense: The thriller is based on true events and caused an outcry in Iran. The murderer, who believes he is doing God’s work, is dubbed the »spider killer«. Journalist Rahimi is sent by her newspaper to investigate – and as a woman in a world dominated by men faces one obstacle after another. She persists, however, and, while the authorities do nothing, she gets ever closer to the murderer. Only to then ascertain that many people in the city see him as a hero who is freeing the city from filth.

 

 

Presented by

Director

ALI ABBASI (*1981 in Tehran) left Iran in 2002 and studied film in Denmark. His second film Border (2018) won the main prize at Cannes in the section »Un Certain Regard« and was the Swedish candidate for the 2019 Oscars. For her role in Holy Spider, Zar Amir Ebrahimi was named Best Actress at Cannes.

Trailer