The Guilty

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Riley Keough, Peter Sarsgaard, Etahn Hawke, Paul Dano, Eli Goree
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Based on the film "Den Skyldige" written by Gustav Moller and Emil Nygaard Albertsen
As wildfires rage across Los Angeles, Joe Baylor (Gyllenhaal) is serving what he believes to be his last night as a 911 dispatcher after being demoted. As he goes through his routine of fielding calls, he also dodges calls from a reporter trying to get his side of the story and attempts to talk to his estranged wife and daughter. His night takes an unexpected turn when he gets a call from Emily (Keough) who has been kidnapped. As Joe attempts to get to the bottom of who kidnapped Emily and why, he begins to realize things aren't quite what they seem.
Netflix has another winner on its hands; this is an incredibly tense film featuring a tremendous lead performance. This is all the more impressive because it was shot in just 11 days during the pandemic and director Antoine Fuqua never interacted with his actors on set. Instead, he was forced to isolate in a van and directed the entire film from a van with monitors.
The less you know going in, the better. Running a tight hour and a half, the film never lets up. Like Joe, you are quickly drawn into Emily's plight and hope that Joe is able to save the day. The story takes some very surprising turns and you feel every emotion Joe has as he tries not to lose control of the situation. This leads Joe on a journey to unexpected transformation.
Gyllenhaal is incredible in this film. A fan of the Danish original, he quickly snatched up the rights to the remake for himself to star in. He doesn't disappoint as Joe goes on quite an emotional roller coaster. The camera never leaves Gyllenhaal, as we never cut away to what is going on outside the call center. We find things out with Joe and this adds a very credible tension as we see Joe use every resource at his disposal to help Emily. This is the best Gyllenhaal has been since Nightcrawler, which I consider to be his best performance. The voice cast is quite excellent, boasting great actors like Riley Keough, Peter Sarsgaard, Paul Dano, and Ethan Hawke. Keough in particular is very affecting, helping Emily feel incredibly real despite never appearing on screen.
Do yourself a favor and check out this powerful and gripping morality tale with a fantastic lead performance.
Grade: A
The Guilty is available on Netflix
Commenti