Profile: A True-Life Techno-Thriller
Director Timur Bekmambetov’s latest film, Profile, is an unconventional thriller with real-life roots. Based off the 2015 nonfiction bestseller In the Skin of a Jihadist by a French journalist under the pseudonym Anna Erelle, Bekmambetov pushes the Screenlife format he helped to pioneer (as a producer on Unfriended and Searching) into new terrain, one with more dimension and scarier consequences.
An undercover British journalist infiltrates the online propaganda channels of the so-called Islamic State, only to be sucked in by her recruiter.
It’s kind of funny to think about how far cinema’s come over its rich 100+ year history only to be reduced to a computer screen, but that’s where we’ve ventured. Since Unfriended popularized the film-that-takes-place-entirely-on-a-computer-screen sub-genre (referred to as Screenlife), filmmakers with both long- and short-form have been seeking nuances to this restrictive form of storytelling. Filmmaker and producer Timur Bekmambetov has been leading the charge on that front, and his efforts have evolved from gimmicky techno-horror to a more inspired unconventional thriller. Although Profile doesn’t quite reach the effective or compelling heights of 2018’s Searching (which Bekmambetov produced), it finds the genre moving in a more realistic and plausible direction.
The film finds its footing in the true-life tale of a French journalist (who goes by the pseudonym Anna Erelle), who actually infiltrated ISIS recruitment using social media. Her gutsy undercover investigation actually led to the arrest of six individuals for their involvement in Jihadi recruitment networks, which put quite a big target on her head. As a result, the police strongly encouraged her to change her name (hence the pseudonym). With Erelle’s story, Bekmambetov creates a scarier Screenlife film than Unfriended could ever hope to be. In Profile, there aren’t ghosts or dark web nonsense. The horror is more real, and it can just slide right into your DMs.
In the case of British journalist Amy Whittaker (played by Valene Kane), ISIS doesn’t just direct message her unprovoked. No, she baits them into contact with a faux Facebook profile that boasts she’s a newly converted Muslim. The film makes catching ISIS look easy because after a few shares of Jihadi extremist posts and videos, Bilel (played by Shazad Latif) quickly reaches out. It’s not too long before they’re video chatting via Skype and spending so much time together that Amy’s boyfriend feels justly slighted. As Amy takes her investigation further and further into the proverbial lion’s den, she disappears more and more into this new life. But is she just doing her job, or could just be falling for Bilel’s charms?
The computer-screen film isn’t inherently cinematic, but Bekmambetov and team do a great job of making the experience as authentic as possible. There’s a nice pacing and flow to its story, which manages to find a decently compelling slant, but for most of its runtime, it’s about as interesting as watching a journalist research a story. Plus, with so many people working from home for going on two-years, part of us wanted how many people actually want to watch a film set entirely on a computer screen. It doesn’t seem like much of an escape, and might just give some folks PTSD (due to how authentically it creates the computer experience). The way in which it traverses time is a bit strange; it breaks the illusion that the viewer is watching things in real-time, but still kind of feels like things are taking place on the same day. Plus, for all the time we spend with Amy, it’s hard to get a sense of who she really is or when she’s telling the truth (since we’re essentially watching her spin yarns to Bilel).
Overall, it’s pretty solidly produced and insightful, but for all its tricks and innovations, it’s kind of hard to rock with it for 105-minute when it all takes place entirely on a computer screen. Part of us wanted it to deviate and mix Screenlife with traditional cinema, which would have made it feel a bit more interesting and less tedious. The whole computer screen film just seems more prone to test a viewer’s patience and grow stale. Plus, it deprives us all of beautiful visuals and lush cinematography in favor of the downgraded and pixelated. That said, it’s absolutely a better direction for these types of films to take though; it’s just hard to tell how much further these films can push on before they’re yesterday’s news.
Recommendation: If real-life thrillers or films that take place entirely on a computer screen are your bag, definitely give Profile a watch when it hits theaters this Friday, 5/14.
Rating: 3 Skype calls outta 5.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!