PROFILE (2018) – Review

In this new “ripped from the headlines” thriller, an intrepid reporter goes deep, deep undercover to get to the heart of a controversial story. Oh, and there are no car chases or meetings in dark alleyways. But there is the “dark web”. That’s because, in the most modern take on the “get the truth out there” suspense saga, the heroine never really leaves her modest London “flat”. She’s online, and we’re watching her on her very own computer desktop as she bounces from social media sites to search engines to video “tele-chats”. Still, the danger is very real, along with the truly disturbing subject. And the whole thing truly hinges on the believability of the reporter’s fictitious PROFILE.

The year is 2014. As the monitor screen “fires up”, we hear the “key clicks” entering a search request for news stories concerning women from the US and Europe who have been recruited online to become part of the Middle Eastern terrorist group known as Isis. We soon learn, via a “Skype” call with her boyfriend Matt (Morgan Watkins), that this is the computer of an ambitious freelance London-based journalist Amy (Valene Kane). Later she tries to put the “squeeze” on her editor Vicky (Christine Adams) for another advance (we’re not sure if this is for the online site of a print or broadcast news outlet). Ah, but the budget is tight, so Amy puts the “bite” on her rich, flighty pal Kathy (Emma Carer) in order to pay the rent. All this is happening as Amy creates a new online identity for herself: an aimless, lonely 20-year-old named Melody. First, she needs a “catfish” Facebook profile, with lots of links to stories and videos about the conflict in the world’s “hotspot”. And it’s not too long before she gets a “bite”, from the source of several of those borrowed posts, an Isis soldier in Syria named Bilel (Shazad Latif). Lots of “instant message” flirtations are followed up by requests for a “Skype” chat. Amy/Melody gets ready for their long-distance “hook-up” by cruising the search engines for tips on everything from how to properly wear the hijab to using makeup to take off “years” (Amy’s closer to 30 than 20). Finally, with Vicky’s IT guy Lou (Amir Rahimzadeh) listening in, the two meet “screen to screen”. Amy is at first amused by the affable charismatic Bilel (“He’s just a silly boy”) as he lays on the charm while questioning her commitment to “the cause”. But as the home side pressures mount, with Matt finding a home they can share to Vicky’s strict deadline (“You’ve got to get him to tell you how he transports the girls”), the unthinkable seems to occur: Amy, along with Melody, is falling for the dark-eyed “devil”. Could she turn her back on her beau and career in order to bask in Bilel’s smile and promises of love and wealth?

The whole story hinges on the actor “behind the keyboard”, so the producers wisely chose the compelling, and talented Kane to be our “cyber-guide”. Her Amy seems more than a little aimless, drinking and toking as Matt pleads with her to join him in domestic bliss. Luckily this assignment gives her a purpose, and through her eyes on that monitor, we see her rush of excitement as she walks the twisty online tightrope. She’s a bit of a danger “junkie”, though she still gets into a panic trying to quickly grasp the tech tidbits as Bilel keeps up his pursuit. And it’s in those eyes where we see her teeter, then plummet down the “rabbit hole”. But waiting to catch her is the exotic Bilel, reminding us a bit of the allure of Valentino’s sheik for the 21st century. He promises romance, often appearing to be a smitten schoolboy, while proudly displaying his tools of death and bragging of his killing skills, even while feeding a kitten. He’s the “dream lover” counterpart to the grounded Watkins, whose Matt tries to understand his fiance’s indifference as he dutifully maps out a budget (sensible but so dull). Adams, perhaps best known as the matriarch of the powerful Pierce family on TV’s “Black Lightning”, is a terrific tough boss, putting a modern “spin’ on the “Perry White” persona. There’s also great support from Rahimzadeh as the rattled and worried tech wizard and Cater as the ditzy BFF who loves to live dangerously, though vicariously through Amy.

This intimate tale seems quite a change of pace for director Timur Bekmambetov, who is perhaps best known for fast-paced explosive fantasy flicks (ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER is on his resume’). And somehow he retains much of that frenetic energy, as the multiple “tabs” all seem to pop in to nearly drawn Amy in distraction. It helps that the script provides an easily accessible roadmap (Timur along with Britt Poulton and Olga Kharina adapted the novel by Anna Erelle “In the Skin of a Jihadist”). And though several other films have used the computer screen as a movie screen idea (thrillers including SEARCHING with John Cho), this somehow feels fresh, perhaps due to the strong “inspired by true events” story. The suspense is carried along by the complex central character. Amy is no “one-note” noble hero, but rather a conflicted seeker of truth whose “real life’ helps makes her a “ripe” target for silky, cyber-seduction. While many other “potboilers” run out of steam by the third act, this one delivers a real surprising and shocking finale. To be honest, I was dreading this once I knew of its “desktop” format, but somehow I was drawn as the tumbling tabs ratcheted the tension. Utilizing (fairly) modern tech to tell a very human story, PROFILE is a powerhouse.

3.5 out of 4

PROFILE opens in select theatres on Friday, May 14, 2021