The Stoning of Soraya M: Far away, so close

If you were left angry and helpless thinking of the treatment of women under Shariah law when you watched ‘Persepolis’ three years ago, think again before watching ‘The Stoning of Soraya M.’ The film, adapted from a true story, brutally tells the story of a woman condemned to death by stoning for adultery in a remote village in Iran just after the Islamic Revolution


We owe a great deal to art and artists in helping us glimpse into places that have been closed off in the name of religion, tradition, culture, or whatever leading men deem suitable for their cover-ups on crimes against humanity and human rights.

Nearly a decade ago, Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling novel, The Kite Runner, broke our hearts and took us to the underbelly of Afghanistan’s recent history. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel, and the subsequent animated adaptation, was a delightful combination of the chilling and the funny in shedding light on women’s position in Iran after the Islamic Revolution.

Iranian-American director Cyrus Nowrasteh’s The Stoning of Sorayah M. stands closer to The Kite Runner than Persepolis in its brutal depiction of humanity doing bad in the name of Islam in the late 20th century.