Holy Spider

Holy Spider
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAli Abbasi
Written by
  • Ali Abbasi
  • Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Produced by
  • Sol Bondy
  • Jacob Jarek
  • Ali Abbasi
Starring
CinematographyNadim Carlsen
Edited by
Music byMartin Dirkov
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 22 May 2022 (2022-05-22) (Cannes)
  • 13 July 2022 (2022-07-13) (France)
  • 13 October 2022 (2022-10-13) (Denmark)
  • 12 January 2023 (2023-01-12) (Germany)
  • 20 January 2023 (2023-01-20) (Sweden)
Running time
117 minutes
Countries
LanguagePersian
Box office$1.7 million[2][3]

Holy Spider (Persian: عنکبوت مقدس, romanized: Ankabut-e moqaddas) is a 2022 Persian-language crime thriller film co-produced, co-written and directed by Ali Abbasi, starring Mehdi Bajestani and Zar Amir Ebrahimi. Based on the true story of Saeed Hanaei, a serial killer who targeted street prostitutes and killed 16 women from 2000 to 2001 in Mashhad, Iran, the film depicts a fictional female journalist investigating a serial killer.

Holy Spider was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in May,[4] where Ebrahimi won the Best Actress Award for her performance. It was chosen as the Danish entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards,[5][6] and made the December shortlist.[7]

  1. ^ a b c d "Holy Spider de Ali Abbasi (2022)". Unifrance. Retrieved 30 November 2022. Technical details > Coproducer countries : Germany (41.36%), Denmark (31.05%), France (15.3%), Sweden (12.29%)
  2. ^ "Holy Spider (2022)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Holy Spider". The Numbers. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  4. ^ Ritman, Alex (17 May 2022). "Cannes: On The Hunt for an Iranian Serial Killer in Trailer for Ali Abbasi's Competition Entry 'Holy Spider' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  5. ^ Ntim, Zac (27 September 2022). "Oscars: Denmark Submits Ali Abbasi's Cannes-Winning Title 'Holy Spider' To International Feature Race". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference filmogtvfond was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (21 December 2022). "Shortlists for 95th Academy Awards Unveiled". The Hollywood Reporter.