Profile chronicles a risky effort by British journalist Valene Kane to expose ISIS’s sex trafficking operation. Posing online as a recent Muslim convert named Melody Nelson, she establishes contact with Bilel, a London-born ISIS recruiter fighting in Syria. However, Valene gradually develops an obsession for the charismatic Bilel, placing herself and her mission in danger.
Profile is based on the true story of a French journalist known publicly as Anna Erelle
Director Timur Bekmambetov, a pioneer of the ‘screenlife’ genre, based Profile on the true story of a brave French journalist who went undercover on social media to find out how terrorist groups radicalized young Europeans.
The journalist, known publicly as Anna Erelle, caught the attention of a senior ISIS officer who fell in love with her in his attempts to recruit her. Erelle’s success in exposing the terror group’s trafficking operations had unintended consequences: she is now forced to live under a fake name with round the clock police protection.
Erelle chronicled her story in a non-fiction book titled In the Skin of a Jihadist, which served as source material for Bekmambetov. The director also met with Erelle in secret as he developed the film. Though Profile deviates from Erelle’s true experiences, the filmmakers tried as much as possible to replicate Erelle’s true story on screen.