Caliphate

Pervin, living under ISIS control with Husam and Latifa, decides that survival means getting back to Sweden. She quietly weighs the risks of leaving their newborn behind and begins to plan an exit. This decision sets the course for the rest of the film.

She secretly acquires a cell phone and sends a message to Dolores, an anti-radicalization activist in Sweden. The call marks the first cross-border thread of aid threading its way toward a risky rescue. The act shifts the focus from mere survival to a dangerous return.

Dolores relays Pervin’s situation to Fatima, a Swedish Security Service agent. Fatima begins navigating the precarious path of assisting a potential return while managing internal scrutiny. The plan to help Pervin unfolds with growing tension.

Fatima offers a risky deal: she will help Pervin, Husam, and Latifa return to Sweden if Pervin provides details about an impending attack. Pervin’s information about Al Musafir, the Traveler, becomes leverage in a fragile exchange. The arrangement blurs lines between duty and danger.

In a school setting, Ibbe shows ISIS recruitment videos and crafts a fantasy of belonging in a distant Caliphate. He starts shaping vulnerable youths to accept his version of power. Sulle and Kerima, both 15, are drawn into his orbit, with Lisha soon following.

Ibbe extends his influence through Jakob and Emil, two brothers, exploiting family dynamics to deepen loyalty. He also hooks Miryam, a girl raised in Baghdad, promising marriage in exchange for help. The group’s intertwining families reveal how radicalization can feel intimate and personal.

Fatima hides her source from her superiors while tracing Jakob and Emil through license plates and movements Pervin reveals. She works to connect the threads to a broader conspiracy, risking censure from her own leadership. The pursuit grows riskier as she presses for clarity.

Dolores and Ibbe attend an anti-radicalization meeting, where Dolores notices a tattoo that appears in ISIS videos. Later, at a cafe, Dolores tries to relay the clue to Fatima but is stabbed and killed. Fatima arrives to find the aftermath and becomes a person of interest as she flees the scene.

Pervin’s precarious situation worsens when Ahmed, Husam’s colleague, intrudes into her life and attempts to kill her. She defends herself with a weapon and kills him, stashing the body in a neighbor’s well. Husam, under the influence of sleeping pills, wanders the kitchen as blood leaves a lasting, haunting impression.

Sulle and Kerima secure plane tickets to Turkey, with Lisha accompanying them as the family moves toward escape. Ibbe coordinates their departure, guiding their route toward Ankara rather than Istanbul. The sisters’ flight becomes a focal point for the broader rescue plan.

Calle mobilizes authorities across Germany and Turkey to intercept the sisters’ travel. A tense chase unfolds as the security services close in, highlighting the international scope of the counterterrorism effort. The pursuit underscores the global reach of Ibbe’s network.

Ibbe detonates a bomb in a garage and uses the chaos to blend into a crowd and vanish. The attack demonstrates the persistent reach of his network even as counterterrorism actions intensify. The incident adds a dangerous new wave to the unfolding escape drama.

Fatima travels to Syria with a plan to rescue Pervin, Husam, and Lisha. Omar, Husam’s colleague, arrives intent on steering Husam toward a suicide mission. Fatima shoots Omar to protect the group and pushes toward safety as they near the border; Pervin is shot at the border and dies, while Fatima drags the survivors to safety.

In the wake of the escape, Sulle reveals Ibbe’s identity during Security Service interrogations, while Kerima confronts despair and contemplates a renewed attack in a mental health facility. Calle returns to the school to capture Ibbe, but he evades capture. Tense dynamics persist as trust fractures linger.

At a girls’ concert, Kerima cannot remove her suicide vest and Ibbe detonates the bomb, sacrificing Kerima. The ending underscores the brutal cost of radicalization on families and communities. Fatima and the surviving members carry on in a fragile peace, haunted by the consequences.