66
Metascore
30 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Total FilmNeil SmithTotal FilmNeil SmithAn intense and gripping dramatization that, a few liberties apart, does justice to a disturbing true story.
- 80Time OutPhil de SemlyenTime OutPhil de SemlyenAbbasi offered a brilliantly leftfield perspective on immigration and otherness with his 2018 debut Border, and his follow-up takes no prisoners in his critique of Iranian society’s built-in misogyny and fake piety.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerIt’s far from subtle filmmaking, but Holy Spider is equal parts gripping and disturbing, and not always for the squeamish.
- 80Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganScreen DailyFionnuala HalliganAbbasi has made an Iranian noir which, even though it dares to poke around the spiritual capital of Iran with its largest mosque in the world, isn’t an assault on the Iranian government per se, but a crime thriller which shows how far fundamentalist morality can be twisted and how banal the face of evil really is.
- 80SlashfilmRyan LestonSlashfilmRyan LestonHoly Spider shines a light into the murky corners of a society that emboldens its aggressors. In that sense, the film is essential viewing. Even if it is completely devastating.
- 75IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichIf the first half of the film shies away from the cheap thrills of its serial killer story, the pointed banality of its final chapters proves as horrifying this genre ever gets.
- 67The PlaylistJihane BousfihaThe PlaylistJihane BousfihaAs a straight-forward thriller, Holy Spider checks off all the boxes that make it an intriguing watch: it maintains a tense tone and has a gripping plot, it transforms into a courtroom drama halfway into its run, and features gritty and stylish visuals.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawAbbasi undoubtedly conveys the brutal attitudes which create victimhood.
- 58The Film StageDavid KatzThe Film StageDavid KatzOverall it seems Abbasi got caught between the social righteousness dictates of the “message movie” and pure amorality of what, disturbingly so, often makes for great genre cinema.