 The Stoning Of Soraya M
Tamsin Cracknell
Good news everyone! Steven McEveety, that ray of sunshine who produced The Passion of the Christ, is back with another stomach-turning “political slasher” - and this time it's death by stoning in traditionalist Iran making sensitive viewers reach for their vomit bags.
This true story was originally a book by war correspondent Freidoune Sahebjam, who passed through the real Soraya's miserable village the day after her death. He was told of her monstrous end by her aunt Zahra (played by Aghdashloo in the film), who begged him to spread the horrendous story throughout the world in hopes of justice.
And spread it he did, the culmination of which is this blood-soaked extravaganza. When Soraya's insipid douchebag of a husband hatches a plan to frame her for adultery so that he can marry a 14-year-old girl, it isn't difficult for him to convince or blackmail every spineless weasel and illiterate moron in the town to support his accusation. Soraya is inevitably sentenced to death, and buried up to her waist in the town square while all the locals (her father and young sons included) are invited to bombard her with stones until she snuffs it.
Of course, there are some cultures around the world that still punish by stoning. And reminding the Western world that there are attention-worthy causes beyond the Lance Armstrong Foundation is an admirable goal. But is it absolutely necessary to make us sit through a half-hour sequence of uncut, blow-by-blow footage of a woman dying as rocks the size of cricket balls split her skull like a watermelon?
There is nothing clever or thought-provoking in this film, produced as it was to create knee-jerk condemnation of Sharia Law. But if you decide to investigate what the fuss is about, take our advice: hold off on the popcorn.
Directed: Cyrus Nowrasteh
Starring: Shohreh Aghdashloo (X-Men: The Last Stand), James Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ)
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