With the grown-up love story Cairo Time (2009), Nadda proved herself a writer and director who could capture nuance and languor on screen. Unfortunately, she doesn't fare as well with the action and tight plotting required for this political thriller. Alexander Siddig, who also starred in Cairo Time, plays a Syrian-Canadian businessman whose past role in the Syrian resistance movement comes back to haunt him when his daughter goes missing in Damascus. The dashing Sidding and his co-stars Marisa Tomei (as his former lover) and Joshua Jackson (as a shady diplomat) do their best, but what should be nail-biting is mostly confusing, and the story suffers from gaps too big to ignore.
Sept. 11, 6:30 p.m., Roy Thomson Hall; Sept. 13, 5 p.m., Scotiabank.