Based on a true story, The Stoning of Soraya M. is is an extremely disturbing movie to watch, especially in its final hour. Although the picture quality starts out being very poor, it quickly gets better after the opening credits are finished.) But it needs to be watched, needs to be shared. I hope you’ll do both after reading this review.
Full Movie (with English subtitles)
Official Trailer (with English subtitles)
Also available on Canadian Netflix.
The two lead actors, who play Soraya and her aunt, turn out gut-wrenching performances. Shohreh Aghdashgloo (as Aunt Zahra) has appeared in many movies and TV series, including “Grey’s Anatomy”. Jim Cavaziel plays a French journalist who listens to Zahra’s story of what happened to Soraya (Mozhan Marno) just the previous day.
If you think Muslims are evil and that Islam is about violence, you would be wrong. The people who stone Soraya to death, who make up a plot of accusing her of adultery falsely, are Iran’s version of what Americans would call “rednecks”.
The film shows how the perpetrators twisted the Quran’s words to suit their motives, and how corruption can take place where nobody sees it. They knew they were accusing Soraya without any justification, and they got away with it. This took place in a tiny backwater town (called Kupayeh in the movie; the author of the book used a fictitious town’s name.), and it could have happened in ANY country in the world. There were people in the town who believed that stoning her was wrong, that making a false accusation against her virtue was wrong, and they could do nothing to stop it.
Soraya’s speech just before she is stoned to death says it all:
“How can you do this? It seems you do not know me. I am Soraya. I have been in your homes. I’ve shared your meals. We were friends. How can you do this to me? I’m your neighbour, you mother, your daughter, your wife. How can you do this to anybody?”
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