OFFERS {AKA SACRIFICES} (TV)
Summary
This dramatic suspense film tells the story of a Dutch police officer's covert investigation of a terrorist cell operating out of his country. The program begins as a young man, Khalid, makes a testimonial video for the Internet and is then sent out into the streets of Paris wearing a bomb, accompanied by a cohort with a video camera. He begins to panic and calls his sister Laila on the phone, but another member of his cell detonates his vest from a distance, killing and injuring several people. Haron, whose Dutch mother was killed and Lebanese father seriously injured in the blast, is then recruited into a secret anti-terrorist unit by Walter and Hidde, who explain that Mokhtar Mitwali is behind the bombing, though they need his help to acquire more evidence. After some consideration, he agrees to help them, and they explain that the travel agency he is currently investigating, TopSol, is more than just a front for a human trafficking ring. Haron spies on the building and spots Kevin, one of the suspected smugglers, struggling with a woman, Alisha. Haron learns that she intends to run off to Canada to marry one of a Dutch mechanic, Peter, and then discovers that Alisha is Laila's sister and that they are both involved with Mokhtar. He eavesdrops on their argument, in which Laila states that Khalid was right to seek revenge for their father's death at the hands of Jewish criminals, but Alisha counters that suicide bombings are not noble, revealing that she "has something" that will help them escape from Mokhtar.
Haron reports back to Walter and the others, learning that Laila is studying at a university under a false name and concluding that Alisha wants to escape from the terrorist cell. Walter is then furious when the Kevin and Alisha vanish from TopSol, guessing that they were tipped off. Haron receives a key that Khalid was carrying when he died and is told that it is "the key to Paradise," and he journeys to Alisha's home again and finds her gone, though he discovers a hidden nursery and realizes that Alisha is pregnant. Laila catches him there and he pretends to be a regular policeman, feigning ignorance of their terrorist involvement and their sibling relationship. Upon learning that Peter and Alisha are headed for Calais, Laila forces Haron to drive there at gunpoint, but Peter and Alisha are killed when a motorcyclist throws a bomb into their car, witnessed by Haron and Laila. Haron furiously confronts Laila and reveals that Khalid killed his mother, and he nearly strangles her before she reveals that Mokhtar will arrive in Amsterdam soon for another attack and that she herself is the "smart bomb," now willing to betray her cohorts in light of Alisha's death. Later, Walter and the others see Haron and Laila on the news at the bombing scene and begin to suspect that Haron is working with the terrorists. Haron visits his father at the hospital and makes several calls to Walter, though he does not answer, and Laila tells him that he must trust her and that she will contact him with further information.
Haron returns home to his family, but is then questioned at work about his presence at the bombing. He states that Laila was a random friend of Alisha's and claims to have had an affair with her, not revealing her involvement with Mokhtar. Elsewhere, the Dutch ambassador frantically burns suggestive photographs and contemplates suicide as Haron is forced to flee from his father's side when the cops come looking for him again. The ambassador is then killed in a car bomb, while elsewhere Laila is trapped at home with the lecherous Kevin and other cell members, Driss and Hafid, waiting for further instructions. The cops arrive at Haron's home and question his wife and children about his mysterious late-night work, revealing his "affair" with Laila. Haron seeks refuge with a kindly and senile neighbor, Cor, and Kevin threatens Laila's life when she fights off his advances. She hears on the news that Haron is a suspect and tries to contact him, and Haron secretly sends a note to his wife through Cor, and she meets with him privately. He tells her about his covert work and swears that he did not have an affair, but grows upset when she suggests turning himself in, saying that he is a suspected terrorist now and cannot get justice. Laila finds a flash drive hidden in Alisha's things and then attempts to turn Driss against Kevin, lying about his possible betrayal. Haron and Laila finally get in contact and meet at a pool, where Laila reveals that Alisha's "secret weapon" is files stolen from the ambassador, whom Mokhtar was blackmailing into assisting them with knowledge of his pedophilic tendencies. She explains that Walter and the others knew about the blackmail and actually stood to profit from a bomb attack, adding that she and Alisha were "sold" to the ambassador by Mokhtar while in their early teens and that he helped them to escape Gaza.
Haron contacts Walter and Hidde and calls them out on their actions, and though they claim that Laila is lying, he demands protection for both himself and Laila in exchange for information about the cell, threatening to turn the files over to the press otherwise. They agree to disrupt the phone network to prevent the detonation of the bombs via mobile, and Haron realizes that Mokhtar's big attack will likely occur on the upcoming Queen's Day, a national holiday with many outdoor celebrations. Haron finds Laila again as Hidde watches and he asks about the attack, and Laila describes in detail how she will be forced to make a video and then taken out into public wearing a bomb, just as Khalid was, and that there may be a secondary "martyr." He asks her for the location of the flash drive, pointing out that she could accidentally die despite their help, and she guesses that he is really only interested in helping himself. Driss murders Kevin, apparently convinced of his duplicity, and when Driss and Hafid catch Haron at Laila's, she claims that he is a professor and "a brother in combat." Hafid questions Haron about his parents' mixed marriage, and he and Laila are then taken to meet Mokhtar and both fitted with suicide vests and forced to make testimonial videos. While talking privately, Haron gives Laila her brother's key, and she reveals that it is the key to their late father's home in Gaza. When they head out into the crowded streets, Haron is quickly grabbed and arrested, though Walter chases Laila into a small alley away from the celebrations, and her bomb detonates when she confirms that she has the flash drive, implying that the agents never intended to help either Laila or Haron. The film concludes with Haron's grief-stricken wife watching his "terrorist" video on the news.
Details
- NETWORK: VARA Netherlands Public Broadcasting (The Netherlands)
- DATE: October 8, 2006
- RUNNING TIME: 1:37:35
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 108345
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Terrorism and counterterrorism - Drama; Holland
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Gerrit Martijn … Executive Producer
- Dana Nechushtan … Director
- Hein Schütz … Writer
- Alma Popeyus … Writer
- Han Otten … Music by
- Jacob Derwig … Cast, Haron Nasrallah
- Maryam Hassouni … Cast, Laila al Gatawi
- Sabri Saad El Hamus … Cast, Mokhtar
- Mimi Ferrer … Cast, Alisha
- Mark Scholten … Cast, Peter
- Tygo Gernandt … Cast, Kevin
- Aus Greidanus … Cast, Stokvis
- Ricky Koole … Cast, Lidy
- Susan Radder … Cast, Dora
- Emma Radder … Cast, Sanne
- Casper Gimbrère … Cast, Hidde
- Mohammad Azaay … Cast, Hafid
- Illias Ojja … Cast, Khalid
- Abdembi Azzaoui … Cast, Driss
- Marcel Musters … Cast, Frans
- Stefan de Walle … Cast, Buiter
- Jurg Molenaar … Cast, Cor
- Marisa Van Eyle … Cast, Detective
- Michiel Nooter … Cast, Detective
- Ahmed Salah … Cast, Haron's Father
- Karin Meerman … Cast, Haron's Mother
- Mike Hayes … Cast, Walker
- Hans Schaafsma … Cast, Caulfield
- Wim van der Grijn … Cast, Ambassador
- René van Zinnicq Bergmann … Cast, Frits
- Vastert van Aardenne … Cast, Doctor
- Margje Wittermans … Cast, Nurse
- Bert Apeldoorn … Cast, Mechanic
- Nora Akachar … Cast, Chemist
- Abdell Atif de Kanter … Cast, Vestmaker
- Mustafa Charifi … Cast, Paris Cameraman
- Albertine de Kanter … Cast, Presenter
- Jan Ad Adolfsen … Cast, Presenter
- Manoushka Kraal … Cast, Waitress
- Miranda Nieuwenhuizen … Cast, Student