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Poster for Holy Spider

Holy Spider

Seen it?

2022 | 118 min | Thriller, Drama, Crime

Saturday Special

Why it’s a Saturday Special

It earned strong reviews (83% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it drew serious awards attention, despite a box office flop. A strong pick for the weekend.

Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.

Is it for you?

Who'll love it
Made for crime-drama fans and anyone who likes to be kept guessing. If you loved Se7en or Citizen X, start here.
The mood
Tense, dark and gritty.
The pace
Takes its time with its characters, at 1 hr 58 min.
What might put you off
It's in another language, so expect subtitles (or a dub).

A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.

How it earned its rating

  • CriticsStrong

    83% on Rotten Tomatoes, 66 on Metacritic

  • AudiencesSolid

    7.3 out of 10

  • AwardsStrong

    Won 1 Golden Globe: Variety & Golden Globe's Breakthrough Artist Awards: Best Actor. Won 1 Cannes award: Cannes Film Festival: Best Actress. Also nominated for 1 more Cannes award. Plus 14 other awards.

  • Box office & staying powerWeak

    $1 million worldwide

  • Buzz & cultural impactBelow par

    About 61K people sought it out in the past year

Trailer

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Cast & crew

Directed by Ali Abbasi

  • Zar Amir EbrahimiRahimi
  • Mehdi BajestaniSaeed
  • Arash AshtianiSharifi
  • Forouzan JamshidnejadFatima
  • Sina ParvanehRostami
  • Nima AkbarpourJudge
  • Sara FazilatZinab
  • Alice RahimiSomayeh
  • Ali NazarianLawyer
  • Sima SeyedSaeed's Mother