The Stoning of Soraya M.

Critics Consensus

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.

59%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 86

87%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 6,656
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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 strife but left with little choice other to wait until his car is repaired, the anxious Freidoune is soon approached by persistent local Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo), who convinces him to follow her into the courtyard behind her home. There, she reveals to him that she has just borne witness to a most heinous crime. Just the previous day, Zahra had watched the men or her town stone an innocent woman to death. That woman was Soraya (Mozhan Marnò), long-suffering wife of abusive tyrant Ali. Soraya wed Ali in an arranged marriage, never realizing the horrors that she and her children would endure under her husband's heavy hand. When Ali requested a divorce so that he would be free to marry a 14-year-old girl, Soraya boldly refused, knowing that she and the children would most certainly starve to death without a husband to support them. Ali was too poor to return Soraya's dowry as custom dictates in a divorce, but he found another way out of the marriage. Under Shariah law, adultery is a crime punishable by death if the accused is unable to prove her innocence. Scheming with the newly installed, counterfeit mullah, Ali accused his wife of adultery. In order to ensure that she had no chance of defending herself, he blackmailed several male villagers to testify on his behalf. A tribunal was quickly called, and Soraya's fate forever sealed. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
  • Rating:
    R (for a disturbing sequence of cruel and brutal violence, and brief strong language)
  • Genre:
    Drama
  • Directed By:
    Cyrus Nowrasteh
  • Written By:
    Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh, Cyrus Nowrasteh
  • In Theaters:
     wide
  • On Disc/Streaming:
  • Box Office:
    $519,730
  • Runtime:
  • Studio:
    Roadside Attractions

Cast

Jim Caviezel
as Freidoune Sahebjam
Shohreh Aghdashloo
as Zahra
Mozhan Marnò
as Soraya
Navid Negahban
as Ali
David Diaan
as Ebrahim
Ali Pourtash
as Mullah
Parviz Sayyad
as Hashem
Vida Ghahremani
as Mrs. Massoud
Noor Al Taher
as Kataneh
Haya Al Taher
as Malaka
Khalid Khan
as Warden
Farzaneh Yazdani
as Bita
Shima Poorsadeghi
as Second Woman
Salti Hasan
as Mrs. Hashem
Laila Qutub
as Mehri
Mizyed Azrai
as Reza
Talal Nabil Morcos
as Kamran
Abdullah Shaheen
as Mohsen
Vachik Mangassarian
as Morteza Ramazani
Shukreyeh Thijeel
as Mourning Woman
Fadela Rashem
as Mourning Woman
Sabiha Faleh
as Mourning Woman
Zoro Shaswar
as Ali's Friend
Jalal Zadhaley
as Ali's Friend
Arash Kaftoesian
as Ali's Friend
Yousef Shwieyhat
as Ringmaster
Rami Hamati
as Circus Boy
Fadi Hamati
as Circus Boy
Asa'ad Arada
as Monkey Man
Zeid Al-Yasoufy
as Circus Drummer
Niayesh Fekni
as Servant Girl
Yasha Kate
as Servant Girl
Prasanna Puwanarajah
as Revolutionary Guard
Yahya Hussein
as Yahya Hussein
Bita Sheibani
as Leila
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Critic Reviews for The Stoning of Soraya M.

All Critics (86) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (35)

  • [A] well-intentioned, but laboured and woodenly acted film, based on a true story.

    Oct 21, 2010 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Peter Bradshaw

    Guardian
    Top Critic

  • This is The Wicker Man but with scary English country folks replaced with the supposed Axis of Evil.

    Oct 21, 2010 | Rating: 1/5

    Tiru Thiruvilangam

    Little White Lies
    Top Critic

  • Whatever its dramatic flaws, and they are many, this is a movie that, in essence, is more than a movie.

    Jul 24, 2009 | Full Review…

    Peter Rainer

    Christian Science Monitor
    Top Critic

  • Despite 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.

    Jul 17, 2009 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

    Greg Quill

    Toronto Star
    Top Critic

  • Though The Stoning of Soraya M.' s heart is in the right place, its head is lost in storm clouds of anger.

    Jul 17, 2009 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

    Stephen Cole

    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic

  • The spoiler is in the title of The Stoning of Soraya M., a powerful, relentlessly brutal drama about Iranian capital punishment.

    Jul 16, 2009 | Rating: 3/4

    John Hartl

    Seattle Times
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (86)

Audience Reviews for The Stoning of Soraya M.

  • Mar 29, 2013
    Anyone interested in what goes on in religio-fascist cultures should see this horrifying and moving film about a woman tortured and ostracized for little reason other than that she's a woman. Powerful film.
    Christian C Super Reviewer
  • Mar 02, 2013
    This movie portrays a moment in1986 in an area of the world able to uphold the social graces of the Old Testament era. It is here that women can be bartered into marriage by their parents at the age of 13. They can be accused of adultery and be burdened with proving their innocence rather than burdening the accuser with proof of guilt. Lastly, women convicted of adultery can be stoned to death by their village and adulterous pedophile husbands in the name of righteousness. The film doesn't do any more than furiously outline this infuriating story. There is no attempt to understand the deep-seated cultural influences that prevent these values from evolving. A 2010 Pew research poll of Arab nations found that 84% of Egyptians favored the death penalty for anyone who leaves Islam, 82% believed adulterers should be stoned to death, and 77% favored cutting off the hands of robbers. Where is the movie that at least attempts to explore why?
    Matthew S Super Reviewer
  • Mar 31, 2011
    The Stoning of Soraya M. is a film that every one should see. It is an extremely powerful, shocking, heart-wrenching and unforgettable film that looks into rural Iranian life, and the horrifying fate a woman might be forced into. Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mozhan Marno and the rest of the cast deliver superb performances that should have gotten award attention. NOTE: This film contains a long and very graphic, disturbing stoning sequence.
    Raymond W Super Reviewer
  • Mar 30, 2011
    Disturbing and often hard to watch, this telling of a true story serves as a great indictment against injustice, specifically the kind made possible by Sharia Law. The whole time we know what's about to take place, but it seems so senseless, so evil, that it's hard to grasp what's really happening.
    Jeffrey M Super Reviewer
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