In 2015, it was common to see the multiple headlines in the news with the same meanings: Teenage girl leaves Western civilization, joins extremist group.
But it's hard to see things from the outcast's point of view. Why would somebody do that? And how could somebody convince a young woman to drop everything for a new life. Based on a 2015 nonfiction bestseller "In the Skin of a Jihadist," "Profile" explores these thoughts with director Timur Bekmambetov's vision .
For fans of Screenlife, the filmmaking format played out entirely on a computer screen like "Searching" and "Unfriended," there's a new film to see.
PROFILE - Official Trailer - In Theaters May 14www.youtube.com
Freelance journalist Amy Whittaker (Valene Kane) is assigned a story about online radicalization and given a chance to join a newsroom staff. With pressures to impress, Amy creates a fake Facebook account under the name Melody Nelson, a recent religious convert who lives in London. After sharing extremist posts as Melody, she connects with Abu Bilel (Shazad Latif), a London-born militant.
Within the safety of a keyboard and video chat, she experiences recruitment first-hand and tries not to fall for Bilal's charm in the process.
"Profile" has an interesting premise. Knowing the plot and nothing else, the protagonist's covert mission sounds like a bad idea because journalists aren't trained to be undercover agents. So audiences preemptively go into this movie thinking the worst scenarios happen. They're expecting to hate Bilel, and for some that won't change.
But for others, they'll find Bilel charming and intimidating. And the film does a scary good job of humanizing a terrorist and seeing the effect it has on Amy. Look – he cooks curry, plays soccer and offers company for a woman who feels isolated in a situation she placed herself in. Ignore the fact that he's dangerous, and viewers have one of the best bachelors up for grabs. But then, the storytelling falls apart at the seams in the third act.
It's certainly not 'Searching'
When comparing "Profile" to "Searching" for example, it was a much weaker film that could've been better. Maybe expectations were high because of "Searching," a film starring John Cho as a father looking for his missing daughter. But in things that "Searching" did right, "Profile" failed.
Amy wasn't likable at any point. She acts aggressively, ignores plans and conversations with her loved ones and makes extremely dumb mistakes. So it makes viewers' motivation to care about her story tank by the minute. Cho's character David in "Searching" is extremely intelligent, relatable and kind yet brutal when needed. His story is easy to feel emotional toward as the plot snowballs into one twist after the other.
In "Searching," there are plenty of impactful scenes in which we didn't have to see the protagonist's face. Voiceovers and a few clicks over multiple mediums like Skype, FaceTime, social media, livestreams and security cameras did most of the storytelling. Whereas in "Profile" most of the storytelling is told through Skype video calls and instant messaging or Facebook videos and posts. It had a lot of potential to take advantage of its landscape as a Screenlife film, but it didn't deliver the same goosebumps or blows as Bekmambetov's previous projects.
Nevertheless, for those looking for a thrilling tale told in an original format, this is still an entertaining movie. Just know that it could've been so much better.
Score: 7/10
"Profile" opens in theaters on Friday, May 14.
Follow the reporter on Twitter at @s_incorvaia.
