The film is the story of Somali born Yusuf Abdurahman who moved to the US, met a nice girl and raised his family. When his eldest son Zacharia hit his teens he was rocked by the divorce of his parents, the struggles of being a teen as well as the difficulties of being feeling an outsider as a Somali. He ended up being recruited by Isis and he attempted to fly to Turkey in the hope of crossing the border to Syria. However he was arrested and sent to prison. Abdurahman was rocked and the film charts his struggle to understand how this could have happened and what can be done to prevent it in the future.
What is so devastating about ACCEPT THE CALL is how matter of fact and low key it is. Abdurahman is a good man who has accepted what happened but is desperate to understand why it did. We follow along as he tells his story and explores the recruiting practices of the terrorist organization. What I love is that not only is Abdurahman‘s other children involved but also Zachariahimself who tells his story his dad via frequent phone calls. One of the calls brings a kind of crushing moment when Zacharia tells his dad that in away despite being a great dad who was always being there for him, the path to temporary radicalization was paved with other factors his dad couldn’t control.
I was rocked. The fact that the film makes clear that the radicalization of our children is not what we think it is makes it terrifying. It is not simply a black and white path or a flipping of a switch, rather it is a slow process that catches those around the radical unaware.
This film is one of the most important films of the year and a must see.
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