The Stoning of Soraya M.

The Stoning of Soraya M.

114 Minutes

In 2008, a 13-year old Somali girl was stoned by 50 men in front of a crowd of 1000–for the crime of having been raped. It was reported that the girl begged for her life, pleading “don’t kill me, don’t kill me” before being buried in a hole up to her neck. According to Amnesty International, nurses were sent to check during the stoning whether the victim was still alive. They removed her from the ground and declared that she was, before replacing her so the stoning could continue. Stoning currently takes place in several countries, but in Iran, the setting of The Stoning of Soraya M., the practice is codified under the Islamic Republic and the clerics have deemed it shariah law, divine and justified.

Stoning’s incendiary subject is presented as an old-fashioned melodrama that climaxes with modern graphic violence that is sure to inflame viewers and stoke their outrage. While there’s no doubt that director Cyrus Nowrasteh’s heart is in the right place, Stoning effectively and consistently reduces an admittedly devastating subject matter to a series of eye-rollingly hoary clichés and stereotypes. Nowrasteh – working from a leaden script co-written with Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh – has infused the story with a lack of subtlety that pervades its every aspect, ultimately lessening the power of the film’s few compelling elements, including the brutal third-act stoning.

Stoning depicts a venal village meant to mirror the Orwellian theocracy in charge of Iran. It’s Animal Farm meets Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.” It details the build-up to the title character’s public execution, boasting an entirely unnecessary wraparound story that sets an underwhelming tone right from the beginning, as Jim Caviezel (Jesus from The Passion of the Christ) shows up as a Farsi-speaking, French journalist who learns of Soraya’s horrific fate from her aunt Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo) after his car breaks down near the village. It’s an unfortunate structural choice that could easily be forgiven were it not for the heavy hand with which Nowrasteh imbues the rest of the film. The director’s ridiculously black-and-white attitude and good vs. evil approach adversely colors even the most innocuous of sequences in simplistic, hateful strokes. Thus begins the account of what happened to Soraya (Mozhan Marnò), a mother of four whose bad marriage leads Ali (Navid Negahban), her cruel, divorce-seeking husband, to conspire against her with the local mullah (Ali Pourtash), trumping up charges of infidelity which carry the unimaginable penalty. Ali uses the religious legal system to have Soraya executed by her village simply because he wants to take another wife without continuing to provide financial support for Soraya and their two daughters.

As Zahra’s story takes hold in flashback, scene after scene is presented blandly; stilted and obvious dialogue, uninspired widescreen shots and overdramatic musical score ruin the story’s mood and potential impact. The majority of the film amounts to a long sit through a barrage of elementary dramatics to get to the fateful day. Once it arrives, Nowrasteh’s direction musters some energy and intensity, but it’s too late. The methodical preparation and final stoning consume over 20 grueling, intense and horrific minutes, concluding with an intimately realistic display of group brutality that’s rare in the movies. However, even this impact is blunted by the manipulative plotting and the overblown histrionics of the filmmaking, which include a Felliniesque circus troupe and dwarf. Yes, you read correctly. The circus came to town, just in time for the main attraction.

It’s consequently not surprising to note that the characters are rendered in shallow terms; as either good or evil, victims or victimizers, the latter exemplified by a risible line of dialogue from one of the evil-doing, moustache-twirling men (“muzzles should be for women, not dogs!”). As a result, Aghdashloo’s operatic performance as a stalwart defender of women and humanity is as extreme, in its own way, as Neghaban and Pourtash’s conniving baddies hiding under the cloak of religious “purity.” Although Nowrasteh does include a few poignant moments here and there – Soraya tearfully says goodbye to her children before the execution – Stoning primarily comes off as an amateurish, egregiously simplistic piece that climaxes with an absurd finale that will alienate even the most forgiving viewer. I will do you a favor and spoil it. After Caviezel’s character escapes from the village armed with proof of Soraya’s murder, Zahra, arms outstretched, exclaims to the heavens, “Now the world will know what happened here! The world will know!” Someone should tell Nowrasteh that a movie that smacks the audience over the head with a message is the equivalent of giving someone a present with a very large price tag.

by Teri Carson