not without my daughter

Director: brian gilbert

Actor: sally field,alfred molina,sheila rosenthal,roshan seth

Data Published: Fri Jan 11 1991

Genres: Drama,Thriller

Key Words: american abroad,binational couple,tyrant husband,female protagonist,domestic violence

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102555/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Without_My_Daughter_(film)

Description: Not Without My Daughter is a movie starring Sally Field, Alfred Molina, and Sheila Rosenthal. An American woman, trapped in Islamic Iran by her brutish husband, must find a way to escape with her daughter as well.

Plot: In 1984, an Iranian physician, Sayyed Bozorg "Moody" Mahmoody wants to visit Iran with his American family. He claims that his Iranian family wants to meet his wife Betty and daughter Mahtob, and asks them to come with him for a two-week visit. Despite her deep fears about visiting Iran, particularly due to the Iranian Hostage Crisis of several years earlier, Betty reluctantly agrees. Upon their arrival, they are all greeted warmly by Moody's family, but shortly before their flight back to the United States, Moody announces to his wife that he wishes for them to stay in Iran. Betty realizes that she has been deceived by her husband, even though Moody took an oath that they would return to the United States, swearing on the sacred Quran. When she protests, Moody strikes her, and nobody in Moody's family sympathises with her. Moody becomes more hostile and abusive, preventing her from leaving the house or using the telephone. Betty briefly manages to visit the American Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy, but is told that she is now an Iranian citizen since she is married to an Iranian, and as long as she lives in Iran, she cannot leave the country without her husband's written consent and has no parental rights over her daughter. Moody, alarmed by Betty's absence from the house, threatens to kill her if she tries anything again. Knowing that her chances of escape are minuscule, Betty conforms to her husband's wishes in order to gain Moody's trust. By chance, during a trip to the marketplace, she meets a sympathetic shopkeeper who overhears her telephone conversations with the Swiss Embassy and puts her in contact with a pair of humanitarian Iranians, Hossein and his sister, who offer to help Betty and Mahtob in their passage back to the United States. Betty accepts Hossein's assistance, especially after he mentions that Mahtob could be at risk of being forced into marriage at nine years old or be chosen to serve in the military as a child soldier. The plan becomes complicated when Betty receives news from the U.S that her father is seriously ill and may be dying. Moody allows Betty to return to see her dying father, but will not let Mahtob go with her. Betty decides to wait to return to the United States with Mahtob, but Moody unknowingly foils her by having her booked on a flight several days early thanks to his relatives' contacts in the airport. Betty eventually gets what seems to be her last chance to escape when Moody is suddenly called to the clinic for an emergency. On the pretense of going to buy presents for her father, Betty takes Mahtob and they contact Hossein, who manages to send Betty and Mahtob off with some Iranian smugglers, and using fake identity documents, they make their way past the checkpoints. Despite the difficult and very dangerous journey, Betty and Mahtob are eventually dropped off in a street in Ankara, where they see the flag of the American Embassy in the distance. The film's end title cards reveal that Betty and Mahtob eventually made it back home to the United States, and Betty became a successful author and dedicates herself to helping those in need.