Ali Abbasi, whose film Border (2019) was invited to the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, is an Iranian director who emigrated to Sweden and studied at the National Film School of Denmark. Unlike Shelley (2016) and Border, which were filmed in Europe, Holy Spider features Iranian actors and is set in Iran, yet the film was banned in Iran. A story about serial murders of prostitutes, the film, although set in the largest holy city in Iran, was actually shot in Jordan. The film begins by revealing the killer, who kidnapped and murdered several women—because what is important is not who killed them but why he killed them. Holy Spider shows the contradictions of Iranian society through the murderer who claims that his actions were justified even after his arrest and the madness of the people who support him. (NAM Dong-chul)