The Guilty

Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this remake of a 2018 Danish crime drama as Joe, a cop manning an emergency dispatch centre, frustrated at the lack of opportunities to use his detective skills on the street. Suspecting a supposed prank 911 call is, in fact, a genuine plea for help from an abducted woman, Joe (facing troubles of his own, alluding to an earlier case) ignores his disbelieving fellow officers and tries to track her down himself. Director Antoine Fuqua delivers a solid, if often box-ticking, thriller faithful to the claustrophobic nature of the original movie (Joe rarely leaves his desk), but delves deeper into societal decay in a police corruption subplot. The supporting cast of callers and patrol units is largely heard but not seen, leaving Gyllenhaal to carry the film, his impressive portrayal of the passionate but short-fused hero frequently framed in close-up and burning with intensity.