Mashhad Nights by Ali Abbasi starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi: review, trailer and invitations

Ali Abbasi is a well-known name at the Cannes Film Festival, since in 2018 he won the Grand Prix in the Un Certain Regard selection with Border, a modern fantasy tale set in Sweden. With Les Nuits de Mashhad, the filmmaker completely changes register and country, as this new opus is a crime thriller set in Iran. It follows the true story of the Spider Killer, a man who murdered fifteen prostitutes in 2001.

With this third film, the director has reached a new milestone in his career, entering the official competition. On Saturday May 28, actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi was awarded the Best Actress prize by the jury, presided over by Vincent Lindon. Mashhad Nights is scheduled for release on July 13.

Zar Amir Ebrahimi, winner of the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival: the interview
On May 28, 2022, during the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, an Iranian actress exiled in France for years, received the Best Actress Award for her role in "The Nights of Mashhad," by Ali Abbasi. We met her. [Read more]

Synopsis:

In Iran in 2001, a journalist from Teheran plunges into the most infamous suburbs of the holy city of Mashhad to investigate a series of feminicides. She soon discovers that the local authorities are in no hurry to solve the case. The crimes are allegedly the work of a single man, who claims to be purifying the city of its sins by preying on prostitutes at night.

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Trailer:

Poster :

Our review:

Flirting with film noir, The Nights of Mashhad is a fine achievement. The film is divided into two distinct parts, each of which carries great reflections on Iran and its society. It's a fine investigative film, inspired by the pillars of the genre(Seven, The Silence of the Lambs), but also a frank denunciation of the place held by women in the country. The fate of the notorious spider killer is surprising, and speaks volumes about the director's intentions: to show that Mashad is a rotten fruit where death is often preferred to the dishonor of an alternative lifestyle.

Despite the sometimes rather graphic scenes, it's not so much the horrors shown as the words spoken by certain characters that will shock the viewer. These are underlined by a cold mise-en-scène, which, when following the assassin, becomes the witness of real scenes of horror, almost in still shots, as if to show that no one can do anything to stop it. But the journalist played by Zahra Amir Ebrahimi is determined to go against this truth. A truly hard-hitting film!