Edgar Cochran ✝️’s review published on Letterboxd:
*Twitch Redeem by Mithil Bhoras.*
Based on the real serial killer case of Saeed Hanaei, aka “Spider Killer”, Holy Spider dissects every single aspect to its disgusting accuracy that the previous Iranian documentary and feature film, Along Came a Spider and Killer Spider (2020), respectively, intentionally did not address according to Eastern viewers, causing uproar and indignation.
Speaking about religious fanaticism is navigating through rough waters: anyone will take the role of the shark and try to eat you alive if you don’t drown first. Still, these incidents were Islamically motivated, supported by the police authorities of Mashhad where the killings took place, supported and justified by Saeed’s wife, followed by his son, and supported by misogynist fanatics that justified the killings as a “cleansing” process for the city. Saeed hallucinated that he had a calling from God to get rid of the moral corruption of the city by killing street prostitutes after his wife was mistaken for one.
The first act is a showcase of horrifying crimes in very explicit detail, not only exposing the horrors and abuse that prostitutes go through, regardless of if they chose that line of work out of need or sheer ignorance or sexual idealization, but the second act subverts genre establishments by placing the social perspective vs. the political one, supported by the media, ensuing an engaging discussion whether there is justification or not, even if the film’s agenda is clear from the beginning.
More suffocating and disturbing than Fincher’s Zodiac (2007), Ali Abbasi concocts an atmosphere that discretely fuses neorealism with neo-noir and splashes of a thriller picture, for then causing social indignation by what happened in real life. Plain and simple. The film required to be shot in Jordan due to the limited freedom of expression in Iran and the opposition of Turkish authorities against the crew.
However, looking at the film’s real-life sequels is sickening and further proves the point of the film and Islamic pro-crime fundamentalism and misogyny:
International Acclaim
-21 wins and 34 nominations as of September 24th, 2023
-A Palme d’Or nomination for director Ali Abassi and a Best Actress prize for Zar Amir Ebrahimi at the Cannes Film Festival
-A 7-minute-long standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival
-11 wins and 5 nominations at the Danish Film Awards
Iranian Government Response
-The Cinema Organization of Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance issued a statement condemning the Cannes Film Festival, and calling Ali Abbasi and Zar Amir Ebrahimi’s accolades “an insulting and politically motivated move” (it seems like an accurate account of real-life events which purpose is to condemn misogyny is politically motivated)
-The previous statement compared the film to Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses and said it "has insulted the beliefs of millions of Muslims and the huge Shiite population of the world". It also stated it was “the product of the twisted mind of an Iranian-Danish man” (it seems that defending the Shiite population at the expense of racism against other nationalities is congruent)
-Ebrahimi told CNN that she received over 200 threats after her acting award at Cannes. The director and crew have also received multiple threats, and Iranian officials have even called for their execution (it seems like killing 16 prostitutes is a crime as serious as directing a film or acting in it)
So, telling the truth is “blasphemy” and “shameless obscenity”, and the Iranian Government will resort to fear tactics of threats and subsequent assassinations to settle artistic affairs.
This just made me realize the importance of maintaining my stance with my Submission: Part I (2004) review. Watch that as well and investigate the consequences for the director.
Ebrahim Irajzad Accusation
Iranian filmmaker Ebrahim Irajzad, director of Killer Spider (2020), accused Ali Abbasi of plagiarism because it was based on the same story and he “circumvented Iranian censorship”. Abassi stated his own film is about misogyny, which made him take some artistic liberties on what really happened, such as the female journalist passing as a prostitute to capture evidence (this happened to another woman).
Imagine accusing someone of plagiarism when the film is based on a real-life case!
Humanity is, indeed, hopeless and insane.
96/100
P.S. So if Abassi and Ebrahimi get killed by the Iranian government, can I make a documentary about that? Time will tell.
