Mark Reviews Movies: PROFILE

Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Become a Patron

Review by Mark Dujsik | May 13, 2021

All of Profile takes place on the screen of a single laptop. It's a gimmick, of course, and one that isn't new, but co-writer/director Timur Bekmambetov has a good reason to implement this specific kind of filmmaking trickery.

The story here, based on a true one documented in the non-fiction book In the Skin of a Jihadist by journalist Anna Erelle, is about how one's online life can bleed into and overtake a person's real one. It all starts as a deception on the part of our protagonist, a freelance journalist trying to break an investigative story that could make her career. The lies, said and heard so frequently and with such sincerity, begin to seem more real—on their own and compared to everything else.

This isn't a phenomenon that's unique to the internet, although—as recent history involving all sorts of electoral and public health issues have made depressingly clear—the online world certainly has made lies, propaganda, conspiracy theories, and the most sinister aspects of human thought and behavior more accessible, more prevalent, and much easier to believe or even embrace. That's what Amy (Valene Kane), the journalist with a fairly ordinary if occasionally challenging life in London circa 2014, discovers, as she attempts to uncover the methods and path that Islamic extremists use to recruit people into the fold.

Bekmambetov, Britt Poulton, and Olga Kharina's screenplay has a few specific points to make about these recruiting tactics—how wily, effective, and ultimately deceptive they are. The filmmakers' own tactics, seeing all of the action unfold from the perspective of Amy's laptop screen, are also effective on a few levels. The gimmick puts us right there, in the middle of everything that Amy sees and does over the course of her investigation. It gives us a sense of how much she has to juggle, not only in order to get the information she requires, but also in order to maintain the lie that she is not Amy, but is instead "Melody," a recent convert to Islam who is sympathetic to the goals of the terrorist organization most commonly known as ISIS.

This is primarily a thriller. The suspense, though, comes, not from chases and other such action (because of course it couldn't, given the intentionally restricted setup of the narrative's implementation), but from our intimate knowledge of what Amy is doing, how she's pulling it off, and, most importantly, what potential gaps in planning or errors in execution might occur. As the lies pile up, Amy's methods have to become increasingly intricate. One wrong click or one mistaken login could ruin it all—and have deadly consequences.

Having recently read about the story of a teenage girl who was lured from London to ISIS in Syria by way of social media, Amy decides to investigate for a story. It'll be an informative and important one, she assumes, but in more practical terms, it will pay her late rent and might put her in the good graces of Vick (Christine Adams), the editor of an online outlet. She's also dating and about to move in with Matt (Morgan Watkins), whose professional success is making her feel as if she isn't going to be able to equally contribute financially to their new home.

Amy begins by creating a fake identity on social media (The film uses a few major websites and applications for authenticity and so that an internet-savvy audience can keep track of what she does—and, as the whole ruse escalates, doesn't do—right). The fake person is "Melody," and Amy's false identity starts sharing posts from assorted accounts connected to ISIS. A man behind one of those accounts takes the bait.

He's Abu Bilel Al-Britani (Shazad Latif), a Muslim man who was born and raised in London but who joined ISIS for reasons that become clearer as "Melody" gets closer to him. Bilel wants to chat with "Melody" on video, and with the help of the outlet's resident tech expert (who's played by Amir Rahimzadeh and whose Syrian heritage shows Amy's inherent prejudice at the start), Amy records this and multiple other conversations that occur over the course of a month or so.

If the film is a thriller of clicks and files and trying to present an online image to an audience (Amy has to cover up a tattoo and keep her dog hidden, in addition to wearing a hijab and speaking in a very particular way), it's also and equally a pointed dissection of the psychology of maintaining and being influenced by such an image. Bilel buys Amy's performance as "Melody," and he gets right to work trying to convince her to come to Syria and, soon after, to woo her into becoming his wife.

From her research, Amy has a basic understanding of people who have been recruited by ISIS—lonely, feeling out-of-place, having suffered loss or difficulty familial situations. We understand why Bilel, an expert charmer who wears his mission and his bloody "victories" with conviction, might appeal to someone like "Melody." As Amy starts to learn more about Bilel's past and his reasons for joining ISIS, she begins to develop an uncomfortable intimacy with the man, without realizing what she's doing to her story and her life.

Somewhat unfortunately, the third act hedges its bets, embracing its thriller intentions (A big and almost intentionally predictable twist is cleverly and frighteningly revealed by way of a propaganda video) and avoiding the path that this story seems to be taking—one that really would have made an inescapably troubling point. Still, Profile is an efficient and probing thriller about the appeal of online lies over real, difficult truths.

Back to Home

Buy Related Products

Buy the Book

Buy the Book (Kindle Edition)