Thursday, June 30, 2022
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
FLICKFEAST
No Result
View All Result
Home Festivals

TIFF 2021: The Guilty (2021) Film Review

Dallas King by Dallas King
September 13, 2021
in Festivals
TIFF 2021: The Guilty (2021) Film Review

Courtesy of Toronto International Film Festival

16
SHARES
1.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Jake Gyllenhaal certainly doesn’t phone in his performance in The Guilty. Instead delivering intensity, anger, obsession and desperation as a 911 operator in Netflix’s remake of the Danish original.

To quote Dante from Clerks, Joe Baylor is “not even supposed to be here today”. A street detective who has been sidelined to the emergency responder’s call centre while awaiting a court hearing. It is the night before the trial and Baylor takes a call from a woman who has been abducted. This triggers a desperate race to save her before his shift is over.

You might also like

BFI Flare 2022: Death and Bowling (2021) – Film Review

BFI Flare 2022: Invisible: Gay Women In Southern Music – Film Review

GFF 2022 Frightfest: The Ledge (2022) – Film Review

One of the successes of Gustav Moller’s Oscar-nominated film was it’s incredibly tight, well-written screenplay that kept all the action within the call centre whilst unfolding in real time. The US version follows the original screenplay pretty much beat for beat, proving that a great story is a great story in any language.

A great story however can mean nothing if you don’t have the right people to tell it and thankfully, the cast are more than able to step up to the challenge. Gyllenhaal, consistently one of the most interesting actors of the last decade, delivers a blistering performance as the cop at risk of losing it all. The majority of the film has the camera fixed firmly on his face and it picks up every subtle microgesture, bodily and vocal ticks. He is able to not only drive the rescue story forward but he is adept at providing a slow burn release on his own demons (the nature of his demotion is never specified at the start).

Of the vocal performances, it is Riley Keough as Emily who makes the strongest connection (pardon the pun). Her trembling, tearful vocals exude a fragility and vulnerability that taps into Baylor’s protective nature and quickly establishes a bond that will push both of them to their limits.

By having all the action set in one location, Fuqua is able to turn the dial up on the pressure cooker. When he does attempt to make minor aesthetic changes and flourishes to the original, then it does falter. For example, when waiting on a response to a call, the camera creates a smoky visualisation of what Joe imagines is taking place. Also one major change to the film’s denouement feels like a very cheap, cynical Hollywood move for a happier ending.

It was only last year that Parasite won Best Picture at the Oscars and there was a glimmer of hope for audiences becoming more accepting of foreign language films. However by producing a carbon copy, The Guilty feels like this is just a case of a remake for Western audiences who are yet to overcome the one inch barrier of subtitles.

Fans of the original will feel like they have been put on hold listening to the same piece of music on a 90 minute loop but for new audiences, this is an edge-of-your-seat thriller than you won’t want to hang up on.

The Guilty is available to stream on Netflix from October 1.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Riley Keough, Peter Sarsgaard, Ethan Hawke
Runtime: 90 minutes
Country: USA

Tags: #TIFF21Antoine FuquadanishGustav Mollerjake gyllenhaalnetflixremakeRiley KeoughThe GuiltyTIFFTIFF 2021Toronto International Film Festival
Dallas King

Dallas King

Related Posts

Death and Bowling (2021)
Festivals

BFI Flare 2022: Death and Bowling (2021) – Film Review

by Jasmine Valentine
March 26, 2022
BFI Flare 2022: Invisible: Gay Women In Southern Music – Film Review
Festivals

BFI Flare 2022: Invisible: Gay Women In Southern Music – Film Review

by Isobel Pankhurst
March 22, 2022
GFF 2022 Frightfest: The Ledge (2022) – Film Review
Festivals

GFF 2022 Frightfest: The Ledge (2022) – Film Review

by Dallas King
March 12, 2022
GFF 2022: Ashgrove (2022) – Film Review
Festivals

GFF 2022: Ashgrove (2022) – Film Review

by Dallas King
March 3, 2022
GFF 2022: The Outfit (2022) – Film Review
Festivals

GFF 2022: The Outfit (2022) – Film Review

by Dallas King
March 3, 2022

Recommended

Captain Phillips (2013)

October 16, 2013
the-man-with-the-golden-gun

Bond: The Moore Years (1973 – 1985)

June 28, 2018

Don't miss it

Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) – Film Review

June 29, 2022
Nitram - review
Film Review

Nitram (2022) — Film Review

June 27, 2022
Belle (2021) - Home Entertainment Review
HE Reviews

Belle (2021) – Home Entertainment Review

June 27, 2022
Father of the Bride (2022) – Film Review
Reviews

Father of the Bride (2022) – Film Review

June 25, 2022
Elvis (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Elvis (2022) – Film Review

June 20, 2022
The Black Phone (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

The Black Phone (2022) – Film Review

June 21, 2022
flickfeast

Whetting your appetite for cinema with the best film reviews and features since 2009

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

Posting....