In 1984, an Iranian physician living in Michigan (played by Alfred Molina) decides to return to his homeland after a decade away and pressures his wife (Sally Field) and daughter to accompany him on what’s supposed to be a short two-week trip. They quickly realize he has no plans to return to America and they are essentially held captive in Tehran, with the husband mistreating his wife. Adding to their peril, Iran was engaged in a war with Iraq at that time, meaning bombing raids over Tehran were fairly frequent. The question becomes whether they can escape alive. "Not Without My Daughter" (1991) is adapted from Betty Mahmoody’s memoir of the same name, which she co-authored with William Hoffer and was published in 1987. It brought to mind “Midnight Express” (1978), a noteworthy connection since Hoffer also collaborated on the book that film was based upon, released in 1977. Both narratives center around Americans finding themselves trapped within Muslim countries. While Turkey isn’t known for being intensely religious, Billy Hayes's experience in "Midnight Express" was incredibly difficult—particularly if you read the original book, which is more detailed than the movie adaptation. Betty wasn't incarcerated, but she felt like a prisoner nonetheless, and her ordeal was just as distressing. The film avoids portraying all Iranians negatively, despite some criticisms leveled at it. Instead, it illustrates how limited women’s rights can be within a legal system dominated by men. It also effectively demonstrates how an otherwise decent individual can transform into someone quite different when influenced by a questionable group mentality. This is something that happens often. Have you ever known someone who acted one way in private but behaved differently in public, under pressure from their peers? I’ve certainly experienced it myself. The principle at work here is the same, except that the “group mentality” and its associated pressures involve male-dominated Islamic culture and the mistreatment of women. The daughter wrote her own account of what occurred in her 2015 book, "My Name is Mahtob," which largely supports her mother’s story while attempting to be understanding toward their father. She converted to Christianity and points out how genuine Christians are persecuted in America by the secular ideology she refers to as “LIEberalism,” a somewhat ironic situation given that America is supposed to uphold religious and ideological freedom. It's simply a different form of persecution than what Mahtob and her mother endured in Iran. The movie has a running time of 1 hour, 55 minutes, and was primarily filmed in Neve Ilan, Israel, with additional scenes shot in Ankara, Turkey (the final moments), and Atlanta, Georgia (the Michigan sequences). GRADE: B

Source on TMDB