{"id":22706,"date":"2021-05-13T14:08:51","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T21:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22706"},"modified":"2021-05-13T14:08:51","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T21:08:51","slug":"computer-drama-profile-offers-a-couple-of-tense-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22706","title":{"rendered":"Computer Drama PROFILE Offers a Couple of Tense Moments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This movie from Focus Features will be playing at open\ncinemas and drive-ins on May 14th<\/sup>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past few years, there have several films that have\nattempted to tell a story exclusively using social media. Such efforts have\nincluded the Unfriended<\/em> horror series, as well as the 2018 John Cho\nthriller Searching<\/em>. Writer\/director Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch<\/em>,\nWanted<\/em>, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter<\/em>) was an executive\nproducer of the first franchise and has now decided to try to create his own\nfilm set entirely on a computer screen. The result is Profile<\/em>, based on\na true story from French journalist Anna Erelle. It doesn\u2019t all work, but at\nleast sets its aspirations high and is an improvement over other flicks set\nentirely on a computer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amy (Valene Kane) is a cash-strapped, London-based writer\nresearching a piece on young women who have been recruited to ISIS.\nSpecifically, one teen who met a figure online and left for Syria with tragic\nresults. After setting up a fake Facebook profile, she is contacted by a man\nnamed Abu Bilel Al-Britani (Shazad Latif). She calls him Bilel and tells him that\nshe is a recent convert to Islam. The two begin to form an online relationship\nas he shares his own experiences. Despite being assisted by producer Vick\n(Christine Adams) and technical specialist Lou (Amir Rahimazedeh), Amy\nstruggles to keep her real motivations and identity secret from her subject. Amy\u2019s\nobsession with the story causes concern and friction from boyfriend Matt\n(Morgan Watkins) and sister Kathy (Emma Carter). Slowly, the protagonist begins\ndeveloping true feelings for Bilel, adding further complications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As mentioned, this story is told entirely on Amy\u2019s laptop computer\nscreen. We see a mouse arrow clicking through files of conversations and events\nrecorded over the previous three weeks. Using this as a storytelling method does\npose problems. The cast are fine in their roles, but the technique makes it tougher\nfor viewers to really get inside the protagonist\u2019s head and understand her,\nespecially when she is never in direct physical contact with any other\ncharacter in the story. Overdue bill notices pop up onscreen that establish why\nAmy feels that she must complete the story and her frustrations with the\nwestern world, but it sometimes feels a bit on-the-nose when the information\nsimply pops up onscreen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bekmambetov does create genuine moments of suspense by\nkeeping viewers in the dark about the finale and forcing the protagonist to\nkeep the dangerous ruse going with unexpected and untimely calls from her\npotential recruiter. Some of the lead\u2019s immediate problems keeping her personal\ndetails consistent and remembering to cover up a tattoo she shouldn\u2019t have. The\nmovie also benefits from inopportune calls and messages arriving while she is\nchatting online with her target. This director has plenty of experience with\nshooting action, so while it all takes place on a computer monitor, the added\nboxes and online calls that appear at unexpected moments do surprise and\ngenerate some tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It does seem like Amy loses focus easily in her assignment\nas she begins to fall for the charms of Bilel, sharing personal details and\nbecoming a fast supporter of the man she is seeking to expose. While this\nultimately has to happen for the sake of the narrative, the turn still feels too\nsudden to be fully convincing. Still, one could argue that since this is what\nhappened with the actual person whose story is being told, it is a possible\noutcome. And one could take the tale itself as an effectively told warning to\nnot to believe everything said during online chats. Both parties are being\ndeceitful and hiding their true intentions, which ultimately results in a potentially\ndeadly reckoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Honestly, this reviewer isn\u2019t a big fan of social media flicks\nand Profile<\/em> can\u2019t escape all the limitations imposed by this narrative approach.\nHowever, thanks to the seriousness of the situation, as well as the various\npop-ups and difficult relationships taking place within the story, it isn\u2019t\ndull and does generate more strain and stress than other features made in the\nsame manner. So, if you\u2019re okay with spending time staring at a computer screen\nfor another couple of hours, the movie will deliver a few effectively delivered\nchills.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This movie from Focus Features will be playing at open cinemas and drive-ins on May 14th. Over the past few years, there have several films that have attempted to tell a story exclusively using social media. Such efforts have included the Unfriended horror series, as well as the 2018 John Cho thriller Searching. Writer\/director Timur […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,1258,2787,4346,4713,14241,16416,16417,16418,16419,16775,18206,18631,19420,22825,23321,23645],"class_list":["post-22706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-amir-rahimazedeh","tag-biography","tag-christine-adams","tag-computer-screen","tag-morgan-watkins","tag-profile","tag-profile-film-review","tag-profile-movie-review","tag-profile-review","tag-recruitment","tag-shazad-latif","tag-social-media","tag-suspense","tag-thriller","tag-true-story","tag-valene-kane"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}