Posted on 06/22/2025 10:26:55 AM PDT by vespa300
FILM DESCRIPTION: In this docudrama based on true events, a mid-'80s Michigan housewife finds her life turned upside down when a vacation to Tehran with her Iranian husband turns into virtual imprisonment for her and her young daughter. Betty Mahmoody (Sally Field) is reluctant to visit the wartorn homeland of her doctor husband, Moody (Alfred Molina). But, depressed about the racism of the American medical establishment and pining for contact with his family, Moody convinces her to join him for a two-week jaunt. The Islamic fundamentalism and strange customs of Iran bewilder and frighten Betty and her daughter, Mahtob (Sheila Rosenthal). But nothing prepares her for Moody's announcement that the family will be remaining in Tehran indefinitely. Despite beatings and more pervasive psychological control from her husband and his relatives, Betty makes it to the Swiss embassy (there is no American ambassador at the time). There, she learns that as the wife of an Iranian, she is now automatically considered a citizen and that she has absolutely no parental rights over Mahtob in this country. Betty then endures several years as a virtual prisoner, escaping only with the help of Westernized Iranian friends. Based on the book by the real-life Mahmoody and William Hoffer, Not Without My Daughter was coincidentally released during the long build-up to 1991's Gulf War.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Book is also excellent.
She was lucky to get out - husband was OK with her going back to the U.S., but wouldn’t let her take her daughter - hence the title “Not Without My Daughter.”
I never had a moment of sympathy for the mother. She married a doctor, and lived the good life. He went home, and she followed. Decisions have consequences.
I wonder if ol’e Sally felt any irony in playing this roll and aborting her own child?
I’ve known lovely Iranian people, too.
It is a well-done movie. Very chilling.
“I never had a moment of sympathy for the mother.”
Ditto. He pretended to be Americanized and trustworthy but truly was steadfast in his Muslim indoctrination. 100% taqiyyah.
You CHOOSE to marry outside of your culture and there can be dire consequences.
My Iranian friends agree with you.
Molina was so good in that film. Chilling. From 1991, the good old days, when both the left and the right understood Iran was evil.
I had a professor who was Iranian who fled Iran around 1980. He always referred to himself as Persian. If a student annoyed him, a consistent crack he would use was "Who do you think you are, the Ayatollah?" He detested him.
EXCELLENT MOVIE! I’ve seen it at least 10 times.
Terrifying! A TRUE story.
“I think I see Betty’s problem right there.”
Plus, if your husband suggests the name “Mahtob” for your firstborn,... It’s not a good sign.
Her ex-husband then made a movie entitled “Without My Daughter” in which he told his side of the story.
Wow, didn’t know that. What could his side have possibly been?
I worked with Vietnamese guy once and he told me his story. Ha d to get out only wearing a pair of shorts. That's all he wore for 6 months until he got smuggled out and taken to a refugee camp. He lived there for two years eating only rice before getting a visa to the US.
I doubt it.
I agree.
I haven’t seen “Without My Daughter,” but you can watch it on Youtube, where it’s serialized on a channel called TheEvilPersian.
I never knew he made a story telling his side.
I’m sure his side of the story would have been that in Islam, a wife needs to be submissive. His wife and daughter were his property under Islam. His side would have been that his evil westernized wife kidnapped his daughter.
I watched that when it came out. Scared the crap outta me.
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