HOLY SPIDER - MIFF 2022

The MIFF guide beautifully sums up “Holy Spider” like so: “Tehran-based journalist Rahimi travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to cover the case of the so-called ‘Spider Killer’, who has been brutally strangling sex workers with their own hijabs. Battling misogynist microaggressions and apathetic police, she joins forces with rumpled local reporter Sharifi, who follows her into the Spider’s web. But she’s not prepared for the way that public sympathy tips in the Spider’s favour, portraying him as the hero he imagines himself to be: a devout Shiite Muslim, war veteran and mild-mannered family man purging the city of sexual corruption.”

Whilst “Holy Spider” is based on a real-life serial killer who operated in Iran, killing sixteen women between 2000-2001, the film itself does not originate from Iran. Director Ali Abbasi (who is originally from Iran) essentially announces this via his use of nudity, vulgar language and a graphic depiction of a sexual act, all in the opening few minutes. It is as if he is saying that if you are expecting the usual type of film from Iran, you are in for a shock, and if you cannot handle these opening scenes, perhaps it is best to leave right now. None of these moments would have got close to making it in a film if it was made in Iran, so I am sure that there would be many audience members shocked by these opening scenes. But is the graphic nature of the opening of “Holy Spider” justified or helpful in telling the film's story? I'm not so sure.

Being familiar with and liking Abbasi's previous film, the very odd romantic film “Border”, I was looking forward to checking out his follow up, “Holy Spider”. When I heard it was based on a real-life crime from Iran, my anticipation grew as I am a fan of cinema that explores the dark side of human nature. We were lucky enough to have lead actress Zar Amir-Ebrahimi introduce our MIFF screening and during her introduction she mentioned how passionate her and Abbasi were over “Holy Spider”. She said that while the film was graphic in a number of ways, Abbasi didn't want to gloss over just how horrible these crimes were and so, felt compelled to not hold back in depicting them. She understood that some audience members may be shocked, hurt or even angry by these scenes, and that these reactions were all reasonable. She continued by saying that it was Abbasi's intent to hold a mirror up to the misogyny that is so rampant in Iran today. Hearing this, I do believe that Abbasi's intentions are good, but my big problem with “Holy Spider” is that it seems to focus too much on the controversial elements he is condemning in an effort to shock rather than to illuminate. His handling of the material is far too sensationalist with the camera lingering on the violence and the nudity for far too long that it actually begins to feel vulgar. While he claims he wants viewers to see these women as human, the way he films the story, he seems more in tune with the killer's fetishes instead.

Zar Amir-Ebrahimi's central performance as reporter Rahimi is truly the highlight of the film, as she is magnificent throughout. She gives Rahimi a sassy, “takes-no-shit-from-anybody” attitude, who wont take no for an answer, which works as both her greatest strength and weakness. As I mentioned, Amir-Ebrahimi was present to introduce our screening, and the rapturous applause she received was something else; I had never seen anything like it before at MIFF, but the audience went nuts for her! It was a beautiful moment and you could tell how touched she was by it. Amazingly, she informed us that originally she was only on “Holy Spider” as its casting director, and that another actress had been cast in the role of Rahimi. When this actress dropped out at the last second, it sent the production scrambling looking for a replacement, when Abbasi convinced Amir-Ebrahimi to play Rahimi herself, and the rest as they say is history. She then went on to win the Best Actress award at this year's Cannes Film Festival for her portrayal of Rahimi in “Holy Spider”, and watching her in the role, not only is it well deserved, but you have no inkling that she came into that role at the eleventh hour; she just IS Rahimi. I should mention that Amir-Ebrahimi also informed us that while Rahimi is based on an actual reporter, it is her role in the film that is the most fictional part of “Holy Spider”.

I wasn't as impressed by Mehdi Bajestani's performance as Saeed (the spider killer), which I thought was very uneven. Some scenes he came across very natural and realistic, particularly the scenes with his family, but I think he struggled a little bit in the later scenes after Saeed is captured. In these moments, Saeed has something of a God-complex, but the way Bajestani plays it, he comes off more creepy than someone who feels superior to everyone else. He handles himself well in the murder scenes, but you have to wonder how it took Saeed so long to be captured, if he really was as clumsy and inefficient as he is in the film.

“Holy Spider” is at its strongest only after Saeed has finally been caught, and what happens after this is where I thought the film got really interesting. I was totally surprised by the reaction of the general public in regards to Saeed and his killing of sex workers. It was the complete opposite reaction than what I expected, as he was predominately lauded by the public for his actions, ridding the streets of what he deemed unclean women. I found it particularly interesting how all of this praise and attention affected Saeed's teenage son, who initially looks embarrassed and ashamed of his father when going out to buy groceries, but that shame quickly turns to pride when he is given free fruit and vegetables from sellers who believe in what his father has done. I found this element absolutely terrifying, that the community not only felt that these women's lives had no worth at all, and that instead of condemning a man who has killed sixteen women, they actually champion him and band together to try and see him be released. Rahimi herself sees the immediate danger in this situation and, knowing the way the law works in her country, is terrified that Saeed will be released. There is a element in Iranian law that is strange to us Westerners in that a criminal can asked a victim's family for forgiveness, and then pay that family what is essentially “blood money”, that would then see them released from prison for their crime. Being that most of these women were from poor families, Rahimi is sure that they will forgive this man just to receive the money that they all need, and Saeed would be freed. She also isn't convinced that the police or community leaders just wont find a way to release Saeed, as she has a paranoid belief that the police may be in on it as the “spider killer” has helped them in cleaning up the streets of Mashhad, or that Saeed may have even being performing a fatwa, issued from one of the local religious groups.

The positive reinforcement from the public in regards to his crimes, also affects Saeed in a number of ways. Gone is the mild-mannered builder, and instead in his place is a man who believes that he really is an instrument of God, and someone far superior than everyone else. Before he was caught, he claimed he was murdering these women in an attempt to cleanse the Holy city in the name of Allah. Personally I feel this was all talk, because he then loved checking the following day's newspapers to read about his murderous exploits, even getting angry when one murder is not reported on. There is also a telling piece of dialogue when he is talking to his friend, where he claims he is embarrassed that he went through the entire war and was unaffected; he wasn't injured, nor died a martyr, nor was any member of his family. He believes he is more than just a builder and he wants to show the world just this. So you can see, that these murders are clearly for his own benefit, and then when he gets the notoriety that he has so long wanted, he actually starts to believe his own bullshit, thinking he truly is a vessel for God. This arrogance is what ultimately leads to his downfall, as when he is told by his lawyers that they can get him off on terms of insanity, he initially agrees to it, but when he has his moment to plead this, he uses the platform to say there was no way he was insane, and that he was proud of what he did because it was a Holy gesture. Even when he is sentenced to 14 life sentences and the death penalty, Saeed is convinced the hand of God will step in and set him free, and you can see that he now has truly lost his mind. The saddest aspect of this though is the way his son has now been corrupted by the praise and fame of his father and considers continuing his work.

Overall, I have to say that I was ultimately disappointed by Ali Abbasi's “Holy Spider”. Whilst I believe he truly had his heart in the right place in trying to illuminate the misogyny that is so rampant in Iranian culture, I just think he goes about it in the wrong way, by focusing too heavily on the misogynistic elements that he is trying to critique. It is almost like he is trying to have his cake and eat it too. The film is anchored by a fantastic lead performance though from Zar Amir-Ebrahimi who gives it an urgency and power. It is definitely a well made film, nicely shot with a powerful score, and it does have some very interesting elements to it, especially after Saeed has been caught, but I just found “Holy Spider” to be too uneven, and at times very crude and vulgar.

2.5 Stars.