The Guilty

Plot

Joe Baylor (Gyllenhaal) is a desk bound former street cop, now a 911 dispatcher. On an evening in LA when a bushfire is raging, a woman (Keough) calls through. She has been abducted, and Joe must talk her though her ordeal – meanwhile navigating with his in-house co-workers, those on the road trying to help find her. A pending trial due to his past mistakes, plus the break up of his marriage add to his pressure.

Direction

Due to C19 there was a very short, and altered filming techniques – but this does not make this a lesser film, if anything it improves it. Fuqua uses many close-up shots of Joe, which adds to the anxiety of the viewer as Joe’s anxiety increases.

The majority focus on the film is Gyllenhaal’s Joe, who is for almost the entirety the only actor on screen (aside for the few co-workers).

Some snippets do occur, where we see what Joe is presumably seeing with his ‘mind’s eye’ – like a patrol car pulling over the white van, as well as others.

Cast

Gyllenhaal delivers as always as Joe, he does a tremendous job and his anxiety about both the call, his upcoming trial and his family issues are believable.

The voice cast all do such an amazing job too, which would have been incredibly difficult to pull off being off screen. Keough and Starsgaard (Gyllenhaal’s real-life Brother in Law) especially deliver as Emily and Henry.

Screenplay

As the bulk of the film cast are ‘called in’ – the screenplay needed to be strong, and it sure is. There is genuine tension for the bulk of the film, especially as new plots points occur during the film (the Oliver situation and that twist at the end!)

Overall

Exceptionally well made, with amazing cast – most of who were voice only. You will be left on the edge of your seat as you follow Joe on his journey to save Emily from danger, and be left gobsmacked by a twist that comes out of nowhere. A strong recommend from me.

4/5