Police misconduct and mental health issues are both topics at the forefront of societal discussions and the moment and director Antoine Fuqua uses his latest film to delve into both topics using an LA-based thriller as the backdrop. A remake of a 2018 Danish film of the same name, The Gulity takes to California as a wildfire rages towards Los Angeles and embittered police officer Joe Bayler (Jake Gyllenhaal) is frustratingly working a shift answering 911 emergency calls; temporary punishment as he awaits an imminent disciplinary hearing for an officer involved shooting. His annoyance is soon interrupted by a cryptic call from a woman (Riley Keough) who appears to be attempting to call her child, but is in fact discreetly reporting her own abduction. Working with the meagre clues she is able to provide, Joe throws all his skill and intuition towards ensuring her safety, but as the severity of the crime comes to light, Joe’s own psychological state begins to fray and he is forced to reconcile with demons of his own.
The Guilty is a film that attempts a healthy bit of topicality in its themes, delving into police brutality and corruption, mental health, guilt, and redemption through the character background and arc of Gyllenhaal’s Joe, a man dealing with a broken home life, shattered career, and possible jail time. As Joe is slowly roped into this saga of saving a woman from what appears to be imminent danger we find that his dogged devotion to this specific case and good deep is a sort of opportunity for his own redemption, leading to Joe accepting some things regarding his own troubles and past misdeeds. The psychological aspect of this thriller mostly feels as if it plays by-the-numbers, reaching obvious conclusions, but somewhat aided by a timely twist in the case. The ultimate moral of the story regarding it never being too late to rectify mistakes while a good one, feels unearned and obvious by the time we reach the point. The paper thin story feels off for talents such as director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter Nic Pizzolatto despite their efforts to make up for it with frenetic, constantly rising tension.
The film’s positive aspects almost completely emanate from the performance of the dynamic Gyllenhaal who provides his trademark dialed in, 100% effort acting style from The Guilty’s opening frame. As is custom with a Jake Gyllenhaal performance you believe wholeheartedly that Joe is a man suffering from mental turmoil who is using this kidnapping saga as a conduit for the dysfunction within his own life, one part hero one part embittered man seeking a win and validation somewhere in his life. The Guilty is essentially a one man show, save the various voice actors who speak to Joe through the emergency line so the film being at all watchable lands almost exclusively on Gyllenhaal’s shoulders and he carries it admirably, becoming the best part overall of what the audience is treated to. The film’s fixed location of an emergency call center and one man show setup means that director of photography Maz Makhani must also be commended for making things visually interesting, using dynamic lighting and camera angling to make the handful of sets continuously pop instead of appearing stale and redundant. While slightly thin and predictable, The Guilty features Jake Gyllenhaal commanding the screen at his usual high level and is a thrilling enough watch to be a great night in with a movie.
Image: Netflix
