"Holy Spider" is a co-production between a pretty massive total of six countries and Jordan is the one that comes closest to where the action is set here and it is pretty telling that Iran is not among the production countries. I am pretty sure they are not too much in favor of the outcome. Language is Persian though and the film was also shot in Jordan. The country credited first is Denmark and this film is also the Danish submission to the Oscars this year. I think a nomination is possible, but I doubt this film could actually win the foreign language Oscar. If you have seen other Danish films from the last years or even decades, this one here is obviously very different. There is no Danish impact to the story whatsoever. The writer and director is Ali Abbasi and he was born in Tehran, so it is maybe a bit of a personal movie for him too. Still there is at least one short film with a Danish title in his body of work, from really early during his career and this may explain his background and why Denmark is moving forward with this film. It is a really international production though. There's two other writers. The first would be Afshin Kamran Bahrami for whom it is the first and only writing credit so far and the same is true for Jonas Wagner, who is credited as a story supervisor here. The name sounds German and maybe this explains why Germany is also a production country for this movie. Also no other credits to him. Abbasi, however, has the series "The Last of Us" now in his body of work too and judging from the rating it turned out as a huge success. Would be cool if this results in more video games being turned into movies.
But now back to this one here: It runs for under two hours and scored a great deal of awards attention elsewhere too, not only in America where at the Oscars it made the top10 (or nine even) foreign-language films of the year. The biggest waves came maybe at the Cannes Film Festival where it was nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or and also lead actress Zar Amir-Ebrahimi won a Palme. The four nominations at the European Film Awards are also not too shabby. Most of the awards recognition for the outcome went to Abbasi, but the aforementioned actress also scored successes on quite a few occasions. The male co-lead Bajestani won an award in Sweden and that was already it. At least, this way he won 100% of the nominations he got. Amir-Ebrahimi's awards recognition was a bit exaggerated all in all. I think she played her part well, but it was nothing too groundbreaking and maybe some awards bodies mistook the actress for the character because it was a really headstrong female character. What makes this film kinda special is that the story is based on actual events. The killer that the film is all about existed indeed and all his killings took place between summer 2000 and summer 2002 and it is also not the first time that a movie about him got made. What is fictitious here, however, is the female protagonist I believe. Correct me if I am wrong, but the entire character was added for dramatic purpose. It is a woman who is a journalist that decides to investigate the killings and try to help in making sure the killer eventually gets caught and arrested. On one occasion (or maybe on more than one), we hear that the police is not really too interested in catching him because he really cleans the streets from prostitutes and as a consequence they won't have to do it. You can see that the killer really had gigantic support even and I will get to that a little later. Not necessarily or not only with the police force, but also in terms of the people in general. His idea that prostitutes are worthless and do not deserve to live is supported by many and this becomes especially visible after the killer is caught.
This is never a whodunnit film. We get to know the killer from the very start. The violence in here is also really graphic. We see on a few occasions how he strangles his victims and the camera is as close as it gets. In a bit of a revenge act, the camera is also really close to his face then towards the end when the execution takes place. Abbasi did not stretch the hunt for the killer longer than necessary which was a good decision. His method was always pretty much the same anyway and slight changes happened only when the killer was up against physically stronger prostitutes for example. But he got them all. However, he did not get the female protagonist. He lured her into his apartment and this scene was surely on the shocking side, but also maybe a bit too exaggerated and too much for dramatic purposes, especially if we take into account that this scene was really fully invented. She does get out of course. I was not sure she would though. It was also possible for example that she gets killed, but the fact that it took place at the killer's home could have led her colleague there and this way she would have traded her life for the ensuing arrest. But the colleague was a bit of a fool too with how he does not manage to follow on his motorbike. Not the best writing. Anyway, the praise and support the killer is getting in the second half is absurd as it gets. People who complain about women being treated not fair in Europe and America should take a look at how women are treated in countries like Iran and many other Muslim-dominated countries. And it's not just the violence coming from the killer, but also what happens to wives and sisters for example and the biggest irony is that people who criticize this are often those who happily invite the ones who commit such acts to their homes. That is another story though. Here we just had the example at the start when the female protagonist wants to stay at a hotel, but without a husband she is not allowed to. Maybe they also thought she was a prostitute there or it was probably already enough that she was a single female. When she tells them that she is a journalist, then things change. Bad press they want to avoid at all costs That much is safe. It was one of the better moments from the film I would say.
I am still baffled that the awards recognition difference between the male and female lead is so gigantic here. No idea why. They were pretty much equals. Bajestani was good, especially taking into account he has not acted in too many films and projects before compared to Amir-Ebrahimi. What felt almost as shocking as the killings and the support the killer received from his peers was how the killing is taken to the next generation. The son gets free food at the market because of what his father did. What individual sacrifice he risked by doing what was best in the name of Allah. Or look at how the killer's wife talks to her children about what their father did, like how she says that he did not commit a crime, that he did not do anything wrong etc. It was all really absurd, also on a few other occasions when the gruesome actions are described. The very final scene is then fairly memorable when the boy reenacts the killings for the camera with the help of his sister and she plays the part of the victims and how she says there in a playful manner that she is dead and it takes out all the gravitas and shows us that the people around them have turned the entire scenario into something where people, especially kids, do not see its seriousness at all. Another absurd aspect I think is that the killer mentions on one occasion that he killed fewer women than bodies found, but there is not really any investigation into what happened to the other(s). In the film, the difference was one (enough already nonetheless), but in reality I checked and the difference was even higher. This does not exactly say anything positive about the judicial system in Iran. Same applies to police investigations. Apparently, the cops were too busy trying to (ab)use their powers to get laid than for example checking on the phone calls that were made by the killer to the female protagonist's friend. The forensics aspect is also not progressive with how performing DNA checks is not really doable on a large scale.
If we look at the poster, we see a mix of the carpet the killer was praying on and a prostitute. This alone might have been enough for people in Iran to despise the film I guess. The killer's state of mind was depicted nicely when he attacks his son in a violent manner and also when he is not happy with his daughter disturbing him during a prayer. On one occasion they say that the police are just waiting for him to make a mistake. Well, he made many: A neighbor saw him with a prostitute, but thought he was having an affair. He hurts himself on one occasion during the stairway scene. And of course, he really messes up when confronted by the female main character. So he was far from a professional, but he said he has to keep going and that often he could not even sleep without killing in the hours before nighttime. At the same time, he was an ordinary handyman with a family, including a young and attractive wife and a somewhat solid family life. Before we finish, let's have a final look at the female lead. We understand that she is also so obsessed with the case because she does not have a lot to lose. She is single, even if her colleague is clearly romantically interested in her, which was a bit of a cringeworthy addition. She has no children. She rarely talks to her parents, let alone visits them. She is clearly a woman on a mission and it is her decision to finally make an impact by trying to make a crucial contribution to catching the Spider Killer. She has nothing to lose, maybe also does not value her life as much as she should, so she takes the risk. It is debatable if she can be called a misandrist, feminist, sociopath or none of the above. There's indicators for each. I would not say she is a particularly likable character, but opinions probably differ there. I am sure many movies-goers saw more in her than I did. The film is overall okay, worth the watch.
But now back to this one here: It runs for under two hours and scored a great deal of awards attention elsewhere too, not only in America where at the Oscars it made the top10 (or nine even) foreign-language films of the year. The biggest waves came maybe at the Cannes Film Festival where it was nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or and also lead actress Zar Amir-Ebrahimi won a Palme. The four nominations at the European Film Awards are also not too shabby. Most of the awards recognition for the outcome went to Abbasi, but the aforementioned actress also scored successes on quite a few occasions. The male co-lead Bajestani won an award in Sweden and that was already it. At least, this way he won 100% of the nominations he got. Amir-Ebrahimi's awards recognition was a bit exaggerated all in all. I think she played her part well, but it was nothing too groundbreaking and maybe some awards bodies mistook the actress for the character because it was a really headstrong female character. What makes this film kinda special is that the story is based on actual events. The killer that the film is all about existed indeed and all his killings took place between summer 2000 and summer 2002 and it is also not the first time that a movie about him got made. What is fictitious here, however, is the female protagonist I believe. Correct me if I am wrong, but the entire character was added for dramatic purpose. It is a woman who is a journalist that decides to investigate the killings and try to help in making sure the killer eventually gets caught and arrested. On one occasion (or maybe on more than one), we hear that the police is not really too interested in catching him because he really cleans the streets from prostitutes and as a consequence they won't have to do it. You can see that the killer really had gigantic support even and I will get to that a little later. Not necessarily or not only with the police force, but also in terms of the people in general. His idea that prostitutes are worthless and do not deserve to live is supported by many and this becomes especially visible after the killer is caught.
This is never a whodunnit film. We get to know the killer from the very start. The violence in here is also really graphic. We see on a few occasions how he strangles his victims and the camera is as close as it gets. In a bit of a revenge act, the camera is also really close to his face then towards the end when the execution takes place. Abbasi did not stretch the hunt for the killer longer than necessary which was a good decision. His method was always pretty much the same anyway and slight changes happened only when the killer was up against physically stronger prostitutes for example. But he got them all. However, he did not get the female protagonist. He lured her into his apartment and this scene was surely on the shocking side, but also maybe a bit too exaggerated and too much for dramatic purposes, especially if we take into account that this scene was really fully invented. She does get out of course. I was not sure she would though. It was also possible for example that she gets killed, but the fact that it took place at the killer's home could have led her colleague there and this way she would have traded her life for the ensuing arrest. But the colleague was a bit of a fool too with how he does not manage to follow on his motorbike. Not the best writing. Anyway, the praise and support the killer is getting in the second half is absurd as it gets. People who complain about women being treated not fair in Europe and America should take a look at how women are treated in countries like Iran and many other Muslim-dominated countries. And it's not just the violence coming from the killer, but also what happens to wives and sisters for example and the biggest irony is that people who criticize this are often those who happily invite the ones who commit such acts to their homes. That is another story though. Here we just had the example at the start when the female protagonist wants to stay at a hotel, but without a husband she is not allowed to. Maybe they also thought she was a prostitute there or it was probably already enough that she was a single female. When she tells them that she is a journalist, then things change. Bad press they want to avoid at all costs That much is safe. It was one of the better moments from the film I would say.
I am still baffled that the awards recognition difference between the male and female lead is so gigantic here. No idea why. They were pretty much equals. Bajestani was good, especially taking into account he has not acted in too many films and projects before compared to Amir-Ebrahimi. What felt almost as shocking as the killings and the support the killer received from his peers was how the killing is taken to the next generation. The son gets free food at the market because of what his father did. What individual sacrifice he risked by doing what was best in the name of Allah. Or look at how the killer's wife talks to her children about what their father did, like how she says that he did not commit a crime, that he did not do anything wrong etc. It was all really absurd, also on a few other occasions when the gruesome actions are described. The very final scene is then fairly memorable when the boy reenacts the killings for the camera with the help of his sister and she plays the part of the victims and how she says there in a playful manner that she is dead and it takes out all the gravitas and shows us that the people around them have turned the entire scenario into something where people, especially kids, do not see its seriousness at all. Another absurd aspect I think is that the killer mentions on one occasion that he killed fewer women than bodies found, but there is not really any investigation into what happened to the other(s). In the film, the difference was one (enough already nonetheless), but in reality I checked and the difference was even higher. This does not exactly say anything positive about the judicial system in Iran. Same applies to police investigations. Apparently, the cops were too busy trying to (ab)use their powers to get laid than for example checking on the phone calls that were made by the killer to the female protagonist's friend. The forensics aspect is also not progressive with how performing DNA checks is not really doable on a large scale.
If we look at the poster, we see a mix of the carpet the killer was praying on and a prostitute. This alone might have been enough for people in Iran to despise the film I guess. The killer's state of mind was depicted nicely when he attacks his son in a violent manner and also when he is not happy with his daughter disturbing him during a prayer. On one occasion they say that the police are just waiting for him to make a mistake. Well, he made many: A neighbor saw him with a prostitute, but thought he was having an affair. He hurts himself on one occasion during the stairway scene. And of course, he really messes up when confronted by the female main character. So he was far from a professional, but he said he has to keep going and that often he could not even sleep without killing in the hours before nighttime. At the same time, he was an ordinary handyman with a family, including a young and attractive wife and a somewhat solid family life. Before we finish, let's have a final look at the female lead. We understand that she is also so obsessed with the case because she does not have a lot to lose. She is single, even if her colleague is clearly romantically interested in her, which was a bit of a cringeworthy addition. She has no children. She rarely talks to her parents, let alone visits them. She is clearly a woman on a mission and it is her decision to finally make an impact by trying to make a crucial contribution to catching the Spider Killer. She has nothing to lose, maybe also does not value her life as much as she should, so she takes the risk. It is debatable if she can be called a misandrist, feminist, sociopath or none of the above. There's indicators for each. I would not say she is a particularly likable character, but opinions probably differ there. I am sure many movies-goers saw more in her than I did. The film is overall okay, worth the watch.