A sort of serial killer Roaming the streets at night picking desperate prostitutes, many of them addicted, and strangling them at home. A young female reporter (naturally) energetic and emotionally charged with the case, she sets out to track down the killer, known as the Spider Killer: their fates seem destined to collide.
This is not a synopsis for a fairly successful ’90s thriller starring Ashley Juddafter posting Se7enbut instead of Holy SpiderDirected by Iranian-Danish director Ali Abbasi (boundary), which, in addition to its tense procedural style, attempts to measure the temperature of structural misogyny in Iran. The film can be called a success on that ambition, and it’s all thanks to the third act that saves the film by slightly expanding its scope, not because of the rather sickening violence of its murder mystery and suspense.
The film opens up promisingly, with a stylish end-credits scene following a sex worker who leaves her child in her home’s tiny apartment and wanders the streets in search of drugs and customers. With all the hallmarks of being a film’s protagonist, and sensitive to the camera, the woman details her working life in all its hardships. So when she’s brutally murdered by a client and strangled in a stairwell, it’s shocking that the film shifts the focus to the killer.almost all elements Holy Spider Such a disturbing table is contained in this opening: there is a beautifully vivid portrait of a bustling Iran, rooted in the social realist tradition; the camera captures the characters up close and energizes the film; at the end, there is a sickening burst of of violence, filmed in a way that fascinates this misogynistic brutality to shocking value. The woman was killed for a long time, mixed with an overwhelming voice, and the camera captured the details of her death – especially her bulging eyes and red skin. It’s this attention to the detail element of the murder that turns the film’s gaze toward the fetish.
From here, Abbasi alternates between scenes depicting killer Saeed (Medhi Bajestani), both in his family and as he goes around killing women, and daring young reporter Rahimi (Zar Amir-Ebrahimi) trying to Solve the mystery about the identity of the killer. Many of the scenes depicting Rahimi are carefully constructed and played to show a determined modern woman at odds with a woman-hating society: the police she has to deal with, or the hotel attendant when she gets to town, are so much a drag Or even a rival in her professional and personal life. Meanwhile, Syed is busy murdering more women. We witnessed two other killings similar to the first, although the third woman murdered by the spider killer got a bit of a fight, and Abbasi toyed with a twist of humor, arguing that since she’s a bigger woman, She’ll make it harder for Syed to murder (though, in the end, she’s dispatched like everyone else). The scenes create an element of suspense that goes against the film’s plan to investigate a deeply unfair, violent society – that is, we gradually see that Rahimi has no choice but to disguise herself as sex work to seduce Said. Can she come out alive?
If you can live with the desperation of these characters, and the vicious violence with which they die, into a gripping thriller, you’re more than willing to manipulate.it’s unreasonable Holy Spider Gleefully displays the horror it seeks to condemn. There’s also misogyny, where we’re led to hope that the college-educated, shit-eating, beautiful Rahimi will get out alive and not have enough money to protect herself like a supine, sick, drug-addicted prostitute.
“If you can live with the desperation of these characters, and the vicious violence with which they die, into a gripping thriller, you’re more than willing to manipulate.“
Fortunately, the third act brings the story back a bit of balance by showing, with horrific deadpan sarcasm, how the events of the Spider Killer ignited the city of Mashhad, not against him, but in his favor. In a horrific turn, Syed finds his murder endorsed by many: a judge; his wife and son; a local fruit merchant – all of whom support him in getting rid of the world’s “degenerate” women. vile target. It’s a good development that at least manages to create a new dimension for the movie. It can never quite counteract the corrupt violence of the thriller part, but it does flesh out it. In this clip, Abbasi uses a mix of home videos and some well-observed scenes in prison to portray Saeed’s young son’s gradual radicalization as a violent misogynist who may continue his father’s “job” in a way Especially bitter.
As a filmmaker, Abbasi clearly has an extraordinary eye, because Holy Spider An overwhelming film in many ways, combining social satire, kitchen sink realism, and tight action sequences; the film’s soundtrack honks wildly in some beautifully composed compositions to create a terrifying body Immersive experience.but Holy SpiderDisgusting views, disturbingly unreconstructed gender politics and a wildly inappropriate shock factor significantly detract from any formal quality the film might have.
