The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008)
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 82
Fresh: 46 | Rotten: 36
The Stoning of Soraya M. nearly transcends its deficiencies through the sheer strength of its subject material, but ultimately drowns out its message with an inappropriately heavy-handed approach.
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Critic Reviews: 27
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 13
The Stoning of Soraya M. nearly transcends its deficiencies through the sheer strength of its subject material, but ultimately drowns out its message with an inappropriately heavy-handed approach.
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Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 6,329
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Movie Info
Director Cyrus Nowrasteh teams with screenwriter Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh to illuminate the dangers of religious fundamentalism, gender apartheid, and mob rule with this fictionalized adaptation of Freidoune Sahebjam's best-selling novel centering on a true-life tragedy. The story takes place in 1986, just as Khomeini is coming into power in Iran. Undercover French journalist Freidoune Sahebjam (Jim Caviezel) is traveling though a small southwestern village when his car breaks down. Surrounded by
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Cast
-
Shohreh Aghdashloo
Zahra -
Mozhan Marnò
Soraya -
Jim Caviezel
Freidoune Sahebjam -
Bita Sheibani
Leila -
Ali Pourtash
Mullah -
Parviz Sayyad
Hashem -
David Diaan
Ebrahim -
Noor Al Taher
Kataneh -
Haya Al Taher
Malaka -
Khalid Khan
Warden -
Vida Ghahremani
Mrs. Massoud -
Shima Poorsadeghi
Second Woman -
Farzaneh Yazdani
Bita -
Salti Hasan
Mrs. Hashem -
Laila Qutub
Mehri -
Mizyed Azrai
Reza -
Talal Nabil Morcos
Kamran -
Abdullah Shaheen
Mohsen -
Vachik Mangassarian
Morteza Ramazani -
Shukreyeh Thijeel
Mourning Woman -
Fadela Rashem
Mourning Woman -
Sabiha Faleh
Mourning Woman -
Zoro Shaswar
Ali's Friend -
Jalal Zadhaley
Ali's Friend -
Arash Kaftoesian
Ali's Friend -
Yousef Shwieyhat
Ringmaster -
Rami Hamati
Circus Boy -
Fadi Hamati
Circus Boy
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The Stoning of Soraya M. Trailer & Photos
All Critics (83) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (36) | DVD (2)
Whatever its dramatic flaws, and they are many, this is a movie that, in essence, is more than a movie.
Top CriticDespite some wonderful performances, the plot plods inexorably and with sickening predictability towards the inevitable conclusion, but nothing can prepare us for the actual event, which Nowrasteh films in real time and in shocking detail.
Though The Stoning of Soraya M.' s heart is in the right place, its head is lost in storm clouds of anger.
The spoiler is in the title of The Stoning of Soraya M., a powerful, relentlessly brutal drama about Iranian capital punishment.
Although The Stoning is efficiently made, it is ultimately a cheat.
At the end, when a photograph of the real Soraya flashes across the screen, your heart breaks for the poor woman, but your ears are relieved that the film has finally stopped shouting at you.
A strange and repugnant piece of work, half hot-button political propaganda and half sadomasochistic Outrage Porn.
Though it is perfectly watchable, it latches onto the more simplistic domestic aspect of the story at the expense of exploring the more difficult and complex political issues that enable this sort of killing to come about in the first place.
Nowrasteh's approach is hardly subtle, favouring didactic dialogue and overblown scoring. That said, a 20-minute stoning sequence possesses the shocking brutality of The Passion Of The Christ
[A] well-intentioned, but laboured and woodenly acted film, based on a true story.
This is The Wicker Man but with scary English country folks replaced with the supposed Axis of Evil.
This harrowing film spares no physical or emotional detail.
With the melancholy cry of a sad cello, the film opens with a golden sun rising over the hills of a remote Iran landscape...It's a devastating story, powerfully told
The long, shockingly barbaric stoning sequence near the film's climax is indeed grueling, and the film's depiction of the events leading up to it paint a horrifying picture of the powerlessness of women in rural Iran in this period.
This film is by no means a cinematic masterpiece, but Aghdashloo's strong performance holds the film together.
The Stoning Of Soraya M. hits you in the gut. It's a phenomenal piece of cinema, but there are many who will read about it and think, "I don't need to go there."
Preachy outrage and clunky execution deplete a vital decrying of misogyny.
A film that may become a little preachy but nonetheless asserts itself as an important document for the world's attention.
Undermined by a weak, phony-feeling ending, Cyrus Nowrasteh's film is nevertheless a pitiless study of moral cowardice.
This film is eye-opening and heart-draining and it is excellently produced.This is a very good film, but it is hard for me to chirp "check it out" because it will stick with you, twisting in your stomach and making your life's petty annoyances feel less t
Does not make for good drama or entertainment, but it eerily elicits a strange power that says a lot about human rights violations throughout the world.
Anchored by a terrific performance by Shohreh Aghdashloo, The Stoning of Soraya M explores the disturbing lives of women in the more radical regions of the Middle East.
This movie is well acted, directed, edited and filmed, however, it is also depressing, uninspiring and sickening. Like a glacier, it moves slowly and inexorably towards its final conclusion.
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Foreign Titles
- La verdad de Soraya M. (ES)
