Sahebjam, a French-Iranian journalist, is passing through a remote village in Iran when his car breaks down. He seeks the help of the villagers and meets Zahra, a woman whose niece, Soraya, has been the victim of a terrible injustice. She reveals to Sahebjam the story of Soraya's life and death.
Soraya was married to a cruel and abusive man who mistreated her and subjected her to constant physical and emotional abuse. Despite her suffering, Soraya never lost her dignity and continued to stand up for herself and her rights. Her husband, however, had other plans. He wanted to divorce her in order to marry a younger woman, but he did not want to give her the wife's share of his property that she was legally entitled to.
To get rid of Soraya, her husband accused her of adultery, which is a crime punishable by death in Iran. He fabricated evidence and lied to the villagers, who were all too ready to believe him because she was a woman. Soraya was unjustly sentenced to death by stoning, and the villagers, including her own father, participated in her execution.
Zahra, Soraya's aunt, was one of the few people who knew the truth and tried to save Soraya. She turned to Sahebjam, hoping that he could help her tell the world the truth about what had happened to Soraya and prevent similar injustices from happening in the future.
Through Zahra's narrative, the audience sees the horror of what Soraya had to endure at the hands of her abusive husband and the tragic injustice of her stoning. The Stoning of Soraya M. is a powerful and moving film that exposes the brutal reality of life for women in the rural areas of Iran, where they are often deemed second-class citizens and subject to extreme violence.