She Rides Shotgun

Nick Rowland's "She Rides Shotgun" transforms a familiar father-daughter-on-the-run premise into something surprisingly raw and authentic.

Taron Egerton delivers career-best work as Nathan, an ex-con whose volatile desperation feels genuinely lived-in, not movie-manufactured. But the film's secret weapon is Ana Sophia Heger as 11-year-old Polly... she's fearless without being precocious, heartbreaking without milking tears.

Adapting Jordan Harper's acclaimed novel, the screenplay wisely sidesteps sentimental traps that doom similar stories. Instead of sugar-coating trauma, it explores how love can bloom in violence's aftermath. The Aryan Steel gang threat feels menacingly real, grounding the action in consequences that matter.

Rowland's direction maintains brutal honesty about what survival costs, both physically and emotionally. While some action sequences feel uneven, the central relationship never wavers. Egerton and Heger's chemistry sells every moment of their unlikely education - he teaches her to fight, she teaches him to feel.

The film succeeds because it respects both its characters and audience intelligence. This isn't just another crime thriller with a kid sidekick; it's a meditation on how broken people can heal each other, even while running from the past's shadows.

7.5/10 - Gritty, genuine, and surprisingly moving.

Ana Sophia Heger dazzles as Polly. While the script is certainly better than average, Ana is very believable in each situation thrown her way. The film is worth watching if for no other reason than her performance. Hopefully she gets some recognition in the way of award nominations based on this film and future scripts deserving of her talent.

She Rides Shotgun is an electrifying debut that blends gritty crime thriller with a deeply moving father-daughter story. Nate McClusky, a flawed ex-con, and his precocious 11-year-old daughter, Polly, navigate a brutal underworld as they flee the Aryan Steel gang's death warrant. Harper's prose is razor-sharp, delivering propulsive action and raw emotion in equal measure. Polly's transformation from shy bookworm to fierce survivor, clutching her teddy bear, is heart-wrenching and inspiring. The bond between Nate and Polly, forged in chaos, anchors this noir tale with humanity. A must-see for fans of intense, character-driven crime drama.

The profound father-daughter relationship serves as the backbone of the narrative here, cultivated with genuine sincerity and competence. This is further enhanced by the performances of Taron Egerton and Ana Sophia Heger, as the father-daughter duo both of whom have approached their roles with utmost honesty and dedication.

Especially, Ana, who at just 11 years of tender age, exhibited an impressive level of maturity and understanding in her performance, making it one of the standout child actor portrayals in recent memory.

However, when I shift my focus to the rest of the storytelling, certain cracks become apparent. The subplot involving the local sheriff's drug dealings, the whole operation of 'localised' Meth labs, and the issuance of 'hit marks' feels somewhat contrived and this perception primarily stem from the limited development and materials provided regarding his self-proclaimed 'empire.'

A little girl's typical after-school day turns chaotic when her estranged father picks her up instead of her mother. On the run, the father-daughter duo must do whatever is necessary to stay alive.

This movie can go either way, depending on the viewer. The story is about the lengths a father will go to keep his child safe. The details and backstory are left extremely vague, leaving viewers wondering. There is some action and some thrills that make the two-hour runtime go by. With the lack of depth in the story and the sporadic action and thrills, this movie is worth a stream.