Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider is a film that dares you to look away not just from its violence, but from the societal rot that allows it to fester. Based on the real-life "Spider Killer" who murdered sex workers in Mashhad, Iran, in the early 2000s, the film straddles the line between true-crime procedural and damning social critique. It’s a brutal watch, not just for its unflinching depictions of violence against women, but for its insistence that the true horror isn’t one man’s savagery it’s the culture that quietly condones it.

Mehdi Bajestani delivers a chilling performance as Saeed Hanaei, the construction worker turned self-appointed "moral cleanser" of the city. His portrayal is unsettling in its banality; this isn’t a flamboyant monster, but a man who genuinely believes he’s doing God’s work. Opposite him, Zar Amir-Ebrahimi (who won Best Actress at Cannes for this role) is electrifying as Rahimi, a journalist risking everything to expose both the killer and the systemic misogyny that shields him. Her performance is the film’s moral anchor, a furious counterpoint to the apathy and complicity around her.

Abbasi’s direction is visceral, almost suffocating. Mashhad becomes a character itself a city of shadows and hypocrisy, where piety and predation coexist. The cinematography alternates between grimy realism and nightmarish flourishes, emphasizing the grotesque duality of a society that venerates purity while enabling its destruction.

Yet for all its strengths, Holy Spider struggles with tonal imbalance. The first half thrums with tension, but the latter sections lapse into predictable thriller beats, undercutting the film’s more nuanced provocations. Some scenes veer into exploitation, their graphicness feeling less like indictment and more like indulgence. And while the film’s anger is justified, its messaging occasionally turns didactic, leaving little room for the audience’s own reckoning.

This is a film that will and should disturb you. But its power is undermined by its own heavy hand.