'Profile' Trailer: Timur Bekmambetov Brings Back Screenlife Technology For A Terrorist Thriller

On paper, the idea of Screenlife technology could be written off as a gimmick. Why would anyone want to see an entire film take place on a computer screen? However, when done in a clever way, as in the recent thriller “Searching,” the format is inventive and shocking. It appears that the upcoming film, “Profile,” is going to utilize the technology in another unique way.

READ MORE: ‘Profile’ Is A Gripping, Thrillingly Topical Drama About ISIS Recruitment [Berlin Review]

As seen in the trailer for “Profile,” the film follows the story of a journalist that aims to use social media to infiltrate a militant terrorist group that is recruiting young white women through Facebook. However, the deeper she goes, the more the lines begin to blur about whether or not this is part of the job or if she’s beginning to become radicalized herself.

The film stars Valene Kane and Shazad Latif. Timur Bekmambetov is the man behind this film, serving as the co-writer, alongside Britt Poulton and Olga Kharina, and as the director. He’s also one of the primary folks involved with the Screenlife technology that is used in this film, as well as other hits like “Unfriended” and “Searching.”

READ MORE: ‘Searching’ Sequel Will Be Directed By Editors Of Original Film, Will Feature New Story And Characters

Interestingly, it’s been three full years since “Profile” debuted at the Berlin Film Festival. At the time, in our review, we said, “The relationship between Melody and Bilel shows the slippery nature of performed online identities, the leveraging of personal grievances into political/terrorist action, and how the immense scale of social media can essentially collectivize and weaponize alienation and anger from around the world into real-world terror.”

“Profile” arrives in theaters on May 14. You can watch the trailer below.

Here’s the synopsis:

PROFILE follows an undercover British journalist in her quest to bait and expose a terrorist recruiter through social media, while trying not to be sucked in by her recruiter and lured into becoming a militant extremist herself. The unconventional thriller plays out entirely on a computer screen in the Screenlife format, pioneered by Bekmambetov.