The Guilty

Clearly made during the Covid restrictions of 2020, this remake of a Danish film is actually well worth a look.

A powerhouse performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, when does this man ever disappoint, he brings his A Game here, and elevates the movie. Credit to him for doing another somewhat quirky movie. Credit also to the voice actors, they did a terrific job, it felt authentic.

A few twists and turns, lots of moments to surprise and shock the viewer. For the most part they keep it subtle, only at the end do they go a little over the top.

Joe was definitely having a bad day, they threw everything at him.

If you enjoyed 2013's The Call, with Halle Berry, you'll very likely enjoy this, 7/10.

There are low ratings but yeah, It's a thing with remakes, you can't top the original one.

But I love the extraordinary performance by Jake Gyllenhaal!

As has been said this was a remake of a Danish film. I haven't seen the Danish film but I have seen something very similar although forget what and when.

Jake G. Puts on a powerful and somewhat over dramatic performance. I say over dramatic because there is a huge mismatch between his acting and eveyone else's and it shows. The gap was far to wide to ignore. From yelling at more senior and experienced staff to throwing expensive equipment around and no one challenged him on it except for a feeble demand for respect from his sergeant, and I do mean feeble and it didn't last long.

This really was a one man show and boy did he put on a show. Unfortunately everything else was just filler to drive it along for another Joe moment. Sure to please Jake fans and I did enjoy seeing top class talent which he is.

I gave it a 6 because it didn't get me where it should have,

I watched the Netflix film first, and then thanks to the reviews here, discovered the Danish original and watched that too.

The Netflix film is a taught and effective thriller, with a great central performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. It's mostly word-for-word the same as the Danish version. And it's free if you have Netflix!

The Danish version is £2.99 on Amazon. It's less stylish and less melodramatic, but much more believable and affecting. I cared more for all the characters, and despite knowing exactly how it was going to play out, I was hooked throughout. At times I couldn't look away.

The Netflix film adds an unneccesary personal arc, some wildfire-related melodrama, and a set more like a James Bond MI5 office than a 911 (or 112) call centre - all of which reduced the impact and made the film less engaging.

If you're definitely not going to watch the Danish version, the Netflix one is a good bet. If you're ok to watch either, choose the original - it's a lot more suspensful and completely captivating. (Ideally, unlike me, don't watch both!)

Jake Gyllenhaal once again proves how good of an actor he is, especially a character actor. He plays this role, Joe Baylor, a 911 phone operator with such intensity has he battles inner struggles alongside the torment of an abduction. For me the film isn't as entertaining as it is without Gyllenhaal in the lead role. Others may disagree but this reminded me slightly of his performance in 'Prisoners' in which he plays a detective battling similar demons.

I really enjoy films that take place in one location as it immerses you more into the narrative and I think director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) does a very good job in keeping the tension centred around Gyllenhaal's character.

I don't think the writing is anything spectacular, it's really Jake Gyllenhaal's performance as well as some stellar voice acting via the phone calls that carry the film.

It's an enjoyable watch that I had a good time, albeit it wasn't a great film, but it had a great performance from a great actor.

Great.