Iran is currently in the headlines mainly because of courageous protests against the existing regime and its inhumane policies. Protests that have already claimed several lives. (You can read more about this in the main topic at zeit.de.) More than 20 years ago, people also became murdered for political and religious beliefs – but by a serial killer.
The so-called Spider killer killed at least 16 women, because as sex workers they allegedly fueled the moral decay of his city Mashhad. Holy Spider by Iranian director Ali Abbasi tells a slightly fictionalized yet painfully real version of this story, which can finally be seen in German cinemas from January 12, 2023.
The film is not only worthwhile for people who like to get the creeps out of serial killer stories based on true events à la Dahmer – Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer.
Holy Spider tells the disturbing story of a real life serial killer
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Zar Amir-Ebrahimi as journalist Rahimi
Saeed Hanaei (Mehdi Bajestani) is a religious man who believes he is acting on a divine mission. In the evenings he gets on his motor scooter and drives to the parts of Mashhad where sex workers are waiting for customers. Sometimes he takes one of them with him, either to an empty house or to his own apartment. There he murders her in order to “cleanse” his city of her existence. In his eyes, prostitution is an affront to Islam.
Because the police don’t seem to mind either Sex workers are disappearing from the streets, the murder cases are not properly investigated. Until the journalist Rahimi (Zar Amir-Ebrahimi) shows up to open up the cases with the help of a friend and, as a woman, encounters strong opposition.
The film tells its story from two perspectives: that of the misogynistic killer and that of his hunter, who no longer wants to be perceived as an inferior person because of her gender. Director Ali Abbasi shows here Violence that hurts to watch – but not just physically. Holy Spider also leaves psychological scars.
Watch the trailer for Ali Abbasis fantasy drama Border here:
Border – Trailer (German) HD
That’s because the victims are never just victims to prove the killer’s awfulness. You have a personality, a story, a life outside of tragedy. her death is no isolated act of a terrible manbut part of a societal problem.
Zar Amir-Ebrahimi is particularly impressive here as a young journalist, whose eyes are more of Fear, helplessness and suppressed anger can tell than any recording of a strangling serial killer. The Iranian actress was rightly awarded Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival.
Which makes Holy Spider so much scarier than Netflix’s Dahmer
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Actor Mehdi Bajestani as the spider killer Saeed Hanaei
Similar to Jeffrey Dahmer the Iranian spider killer also killed people who existed on the fringes of society. Dahmer recently became a (pop) cultural phenomenon thanks to the incredibly successful series on Netflix – including tasteless Halloween costumes that were based on the serial killer.
However, Saeed Hanaei had fans all his life and they had no problem publicly campaigning for his release. Extremely conservative Iranians openly celebrated him for his Elimination of supposedly godless women, there are even said to have been copycats . Holy Spider also shows this aspect of the story, because the film does not end with the arrest of the killer.
The most unbearable of Holy Spider lies in what happens after the murders. The smiling faces that congratulate Saeed on his deeds. The son who proudly tells that his father is a hero. The silent pain on Rahimi’s face, who doesn’t even seem surprised anymore. This is exactly why Holy Spider is so hard to take and an extremely important film. For Saeed Hanaei may be long dead, his misogyny lives – and not only in parts of Iranian but also in German society.
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Which film based on a real murder series do you think is the most successful?