Film

Holy Spider

Name: Holy Spider
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Released: 2022
Cast: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Sina Parvaneh

A fearless Iranian journalist hunts a serial killer in Mashhad while the city's moral establishment protects him. Sharp, furious, and cinematically precise, it's a procedural thriller that doubles as a savage critique of how institutions fail vulnerable women. Essential for anyone who values cinema that has something to say.

TMDb rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you are drawn to tense, procedural crime stories where the real pull is moral unease and a fierce lead performance, the way a slow-burn investigation exposes a whole city's hypocrisy.

Skip it if you want the hunt to be the engine, since the film lingers on the bleak streets, the public's indifference and the mood of the investigation more than on swift clues or brisk set pieces.

What it asks of you: It runs about two hours at a deliberate pace, staying close to its journalist and sitting with harsh, uncomfortable scenes rather than releasing the tension quickly.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Spotlight2015

Journalists methodically dismantle institutional corruption by following evidence and sources. Like Holy Spider, it finds moral urgency in careful reporting and refuses easy catharsis.

But It's a ensemble procedural where the real drama is bureaucratic. If you need big emotional peaks, the methodical pacing will feel slow.

She Said2022

Two reporters expose systemic predation despite powerful forces protecting the guilty. It shares Holy Spider's unflinching look at how institutions shield abusers while targeting victims.

But Deliberately restrained in style—the power is in what's revealed, not in pyrotechnics. Some find that coldness distancing rather than clarifying.

Nocturnal Animals2016

A woman confronts violence and institutional failure through a story told by her ex-husband. Like Holy Spider, it uses genre (thriller, noir) to examine how society abandons vulnerable people.

But It's a film about a film—layered and sometimes difficult to parse. The narrative mirrors can feel deliberately obscure rather than illuminating.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Holy Spider

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

MINDHUNTER2017

Both films use the serial killer hunt to expose how institutions fail women: here, the American justice system's indifference to victims; there, Iranian religious authority's protection of men. Same engine, different geography.

A forensic psychologist and FBI agent build the framework for profiling serial killers in America's early years. Like Holy Spider, it's methodical, institutional, and driven by the tension between procedural logic and moral chaos.

But Deliberately paced as a slow-burn psychological study rather than a thriller. The second season loses momentum and the show was cancelled unresolved.

The Nightingale2018

A woman hunts her family's murderers in occupied France. It matches Holy Spider's moral anger and refusal to soften its female protagonist's pursuit of justice.

But Brutal and harrowing, with graphic violence. The tone is relentless—there is no respite and some find that exhausting rather than powerful.

Memories of Murder2003

South Korean serial-killer procedural that mirrors Holy Spider's anatomy of institutional failure and how power protects the guilty while the powerless suffer.

But Deliberately ambiguous ending that many find frustrating. If you need resolution, this film refuses to provide it cleanly.

The Wailing2016

A Korean thriller about accusation, faith, and violence in a small community. Shares Holy Spider's examination of how belief systems enable cruelty.

But Extremely long and architecturally complex—it demands active viewing. It also doesn't explain itself, which some find pretentious.

An Officer and a Spy2019

Polanski's meticulous reconstruction of the Dreyfus affair—another story about a lone man exposing institutional corruption and antisemitic power.

But Dreyfus himself is barely present. If you want a character-driven drama, the focus on process and politics may feel distant.

The Salesman2016

Asghar Farhadi's Iranian thriller about reputation, justice, and a community's complicity. Shares the moral complexity and architectural precision of Holy Spider.

But Slow-burn psychological tension rather than action. Some find its ambiguity about right and wrong unsatisfying rather than sophisticated.

Prisoners2013

A man takes extrajudicial justice into his own hands hunting a missing girl. Examines moral lines as unflinchingly as Holy Spider does.

But Nearly three hours and increasingly grim. The protagonist's actions become harder to root for, which some experience as the film lost, not as intended moral complexity.

The Night Comes For Us2018

Both are geographically specific thrillers with ferocious female/vulnerable leads hunted by systems that view them as disposable. Holy Spider is intellectual fury; this is physical fury. Same moral rage, different register.

Indonesian action film of jaw-dropping violence and craft. The protagonist is a former enforcer trying to protect a child from his former masters. Pure kinetic cinema—two hours of astonishing fight choreography.

But Subtitled, extremely violent, and almost no plot. If you watch films for character development or story, this is brutalism.

A Prophet2009

Both are about an outsider (immigrant, woman) navigating a closed system (prison, city) where official authority is either absent or complicit. Both use the protagonist's intelligence as the only weapon available. Holy Spider looks outward at corruption; this one inward.

A young Algerian man in French prison transforms from victim to manipulator through observation and strategic intelligence. Masterly cinema about power, complicity, and survival in enclosed systems.

But French-Corsican dialogue, prison brutality, and no catharsis. It's slow and morally bleak—you come out unsettled, not satisfied.