This could be a critique of the policing system, showing that the power of life and death is in the hands of people emotionally ill-equipped to deal with it. A cop who knows he has to be on his guard all the time is guarded even when he shouldn't be, and a cop who misses his family brings his own baggage when dealing with another messed-up family situation. And crucially, these problems leave them with buttons to be pushed. Netflix: 41 of the best movies to watch tonightĬops the film suggests, have their own problems.Gorgeous and thrillingly weird sci-fi epic Dune leaves you hanging.How Serial and Taxi Driver inspired rebooted thriller The Guilty. You've probably been subjected to enough real-life dashcam or smartphone horrors in recent years to feel bitterly aware of how this interaction can go tragically and pointlessly wrong. Down the phone line we hear the patrolmen barking at a citizen whose only crime is to drive a car that might look a bit like a car that might be involved in a crime, maybe. "Don't fuckin' tell me what to do," a highway patrolman growls down the phone at Joe as the patrolman edges towards a traffic stop, carrying his separate anger, resentment and ego into an interaction with a civilian that feels toxic and threatening before it's even begun. Whether compartmentalizing or traumatized by the job, or just assholes, they chafe at crossover between LAPD and CHP or whatever acronymic tribe they're nominally tied to. Dispatch officers, whose whole job is to talk to others, are dispassionate to the point of numbness. Police officers bristle not just at civilians but at each other, throwing up verbal body armor that instead renders them isolated, vulnerable, even fragile. By telling a story through unseen voices, The Guilty focuses on the way people talk to each other. "Social distance" could be a theme of the film, set in a city where millions are packed on top of each other and yet live worlds apart. The film was announced in 2018, way before COVID, but the tiny cast and single location made it the ideal socially distanced production when it was shot in late 2020.ĭirector Antoine Fuqua adopts COVID safety measures while filming The Guilty in 2020. Although it isn't mentioned in the film, The Guilty is also a product of the pandemic. There's a palpable sense of desperation as the police fight not to become overwhelmed, both in terms of logistics and on a personal, emotional level. Set in LA, the film takes on a chilling topicality as wildfires burn the world outside, just as the Dixie fire and thousands of others continue to ravage the West coast. It's a decent enough performance from Gyllenhaal, but a parallel subplot about Joe's legal troubles never really gets going so we don't see the layers of his unlikeable character unfold. Both the editing and Gyllenhaal's acting are fidgety, chafing against the restrictions of the single room. The swirling conflagration in the background gives the film some much-needed visual interest, as the energy and propulsion comes from the editing between shots and from Gyllenhaal's performance. The moodily lit dispatch room is illuminated by a huge bank of screens showing the chaos outside: raging wildfires, burning cop cars, news reports from LA's frontline of human misery. But Joe has other things on his mind beside serving and protecting. By casting Gyllenhaal, the US remake recalls another LAPD thriller with a camera gimmick, End of Watch, and this is almost like a spiritual sequel as it delves into the psyche of the men who wield the badge and gun. True Detective writer Nic Pizzolatto is credited as the writer, although it's hard to see how much has really changed from the original version, a 2018 Danish film that remains a masterclass in cinematic suspense. The Guilty is Training Day director Antoine Fuqua's second film this year following the glossy but muddled sci-fi snoozer Infinite. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, opened in theaters Sept. Everything plays out in this one room, the drama coming from each whispering voice in the dark as Joe finds himself trying to solve a kidnapping from within four walls. The film's gimmick is that just like Joe, we're stuck inside the call center. Gyllenhaal is Joe, a detective demoted to answering phones and barely able to contain his simmering frustration and resentment at the obnoxious people of Los Angeles who call in for help. Stuck in an LA police dispatch center with terrifying wildfires raging outside, troubled cop Jake Gyllenhaal finds that all he can do is talk in new thriller The Guilty, streaming now on Netflix.
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