Holy Spider

Journalist Arezoo Rahimi arrives in the Iranian holy city of Mashhad from Tehran to investigate a series of murders of local street prostitutes. The killings follow a pattern, with women picked up from area roundabouts by a man on a motorcycle, taken elsewhere, and strangled with their own headscarves. They are then dumped in local rubbish areas. The serial killer, Saeed Azimi, is introduced from the outset. The film's opening tracks the last evening of one of his victims. Addicted to opium, she solicits a series of clients before concluding with Azimi. They journey to a decrepit apartment complex, but she senses trouble and attempts to flee before entering his apartment. Azimi strangles her in the stairwell and then flees with her body on his motorcycle.