Like a director's cut of Law & Order: SVU, Holy Spider is 2 hours long, based on a true story and all about hunting down a serial killer and then trying to prosecute him.

While the film meanders and stalls a bit in the middle, the ambitious project hits more bases than it misses. It takes on misogyny in general (not all men but it's always a man), women's rights in Iran specifically, and religious fundamentalism globally. While this is a lot to do justice to in one film, justice is eventually served.

Shout out to Iranian / Swiss writer / director Ali Abbasi (whose Border I really liked) for really leaving his mark on this film. "My intention was not to make a serial killer movie. I wanted to make a movie about a serial killer society."

Also, shout out to lead actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi who won best actress for her performance at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Tragically, she was forced to leave Iran in 2008 after an intimate film of her and her lover was stolen by the friend of a friend and sold on the black market in Iran (which, BTW, condemned Holy Spider and all the attention it garnered at Cannes).

Interestingly enough, Ebrahimi was originally only the casting director for this film, but stepped into the lead role when an actor backed out. After watching her in the movie, that happenstance feels more like destiny.

A bit jumbled at moments, Holy Spider could've used one more editing pass, but in this case it's better to have too much rather than not enough.

(Trigger Warning for multiple assaults against women.)