The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008) on Netflix
In 1986 Iran, a journalist is stranded in a remote village, where Zahra tells him about her niece Soraya. Soraya's husband Ali wants her gone so he can wed a fourteen-year-old girl.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.9/1023,381 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes59%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1986, Freidoune Sahebjam is driving through Iran when his car breaks down in the remote village of Kuhpayeh. Zahra, a village woman, tells him about her niece Soraya, who is married to the abusive Ali. Ali wants the marriage dissolved so he can take a fourteen-year-old wife, but a divorce would mean returning Soraya's dowry, so he presses the mullah to persuade Soraya to agree, threatening to reveal the mullah's own past as a convict. After a woman in the village dies, Ali asks Zahra to talk Soraya into caring for the widower. Soraya takes the work, and Ali and the mullah use it to spread the claim that she has been unfaithful. Before a formal charge, they need a witness, so they threaten the widower until he backs the story.
Cast
- Ali Pourtashas Mullah
- Bita Sheibanias Leila
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Journalist Freidoune Sahebjam stumbled onto the true story by chance while traveling through Iran, learning of Soraya Manutchehri's death from her aunt in the village, and later turned it into his 1990 book La Femme Lapidée.
- The film had its world premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the Director's Choice Award and was second runner-up for the Cadillac People's Choice Award, while the book it is adapted from has been banned in Iran.
- Financing was led by Mpower Pictures, the company started by John Shepherd, Stephen McEveety and Todd Burns, with additional money coming from Blackwater founder Erik Prince.
SPOILER
The real stoning has been described as a slow, painful event with "a carnival atmosphere led by village elders", after which the body was allegedly left outside so that animals could "ravage" it.
