|
Holy Spider 2022 ★★★★
I remember missing out on this one when it briefly hit theaters last year. Kind of a bummer since I remember the trailer looking pretty good. So when a local streaming platform offered it for cheaper rent, I was of course chuffed to bits with this opportunity.
The film itself is a pretty stylish serial killer flick about a killer singling out prostitutes with a drug problem, set in Iran in the early 2000s. Though, to be fair, the only time stamp we get is a news report on 9/11 playing in the background while one of the girls is... let's say “hard at work”.
Contrary to most serial killer movies, it's no whodunnit with a lot of red herrings and such. In fact, we know fairly early who is responsible for these killings. A simple construction worker who claims to “clean” the streets in his conversations with a journalist (in the process reminding the viewer of the zodiac killer). The movie claims to be based on true events, so wether or not any potential similarities with some of his “colleagues” (Zodiac, Gacy,...) were the work of the actual killer or the makers of this movie or just coincidence remains unclear at the moment of writing.
More disturbing than the killer himself however, is the mood surrounding the killings. For one thing, I doubt wether Ted Bundy had a mob screaming in front of the prison for him to be released. Not to mention the politicking in what Mitt Romney once referred to as quiet rooms, with people actually trying to pull a “get out of jail free card” with, among others, a “whipping” scene executed with a simply hallucinating glee.
Also, the ease with which even his family glosses past this. Claiming that they were only sluts who deserved to die, resulting in a pretty disturbing final scene. Also disturbing is the way the country of Iran approached women at the time. Shown only in small scenes like when the reporter checks into a hotel room. Or when a local police officer makes advances at her later on. Only succeeding in underlining the courage this woman needs to put herself in these dangerous situations. Props to Zar Amir Ebrahimi for pulling this performance off as well as she did.
The idea of saying something along the lines of “it's nice to see this possible in that country” may sound a bit backhanded here, but there is no backhandedness to it, as the situation contains an element of truth. These slick big (budget) productions are usually still somewhat (perceived as) the exclusive property of Hollywood and perhaps England with the Pinewood studios. In countries like Belgium, Bulgaria, the Netherlands or in this case, Iran... it's simply not as easy or even more difficult to assemble the financial means to make this type of production possible. So compliments to Ali Abbasi for making it look the way he did. Especially when its subject matter is likely to cause controversy and with one shot of a blowjob that's risqué even by European standards. Sure, it's only for a few seconds, but still. If something already makes Europeans go yaips, then I can imagine that Iranian censors will not take to kindly to that either.
For who is this? Good question. Judging on the box office returns, it's not for everyone. But I would suggest that both fans of serial killer flicks and fans of art house movies in general will find something that appeals to them. Heck, even the somewhat more openminded general moviegoer could well be pleasantly surprised by this one.
Four stars. No doubt.
Swept Under 2022 ★★½
An okay short about a cursed rug. Guess it did not tie the room together.
The rug with the faces made for a nice shot as well as the American flag. Nice bit of satire.
__________________
|