The Guilty

If you’re familiar with the Norwegian original and thus the whole plot, The Guilty won’t manage to thrill you. Rather, we can just enjoy the presence of Jake Gyllenhaal and compare the formalistic concept, which in this case is livened up with a communication centre’s large monitors displaying Californian wildfires. The intensity of the main character’s explosive mental state is surprising for a mainstream Netflix movie, as if Antoine Fuqua attempted to make up for the original film’s lack of rawness and authenticity. Gyllenhaal tries hard and everyone knows that he is capable, but the degree of focus on his character is almost superficially overwrought. We don’t know the character and his good human qualities enough to sympathise with him. (06/24/2024)

A thriller... and a cheap one. Gyllenhall savors the ambiguous character of an emergency line operator who gets a call from an abducted woman. With a computer and head set in the supporting roles. I haven’t seen the original and don’t know how much Pizzolatto changed, but the dialogs and twists are very good with the suffocating Covid atmosphere. Calling over the phone and face to face contact just aren’t the same! One day I might watch the original Danish version. (10/01/2021)

An intimate and such a well written film that it seemed to me almost like an adaptation of a very good radio play. I didn't see the original, so I was able to be (for an hour and a half) tense and wait to see what came out of it, because from the beginning something suspicious hung in the air in that strange night atmosphere. Jake Gyllenhaal is great and the point was successful - given that and the overall tone, I understand why the Americans needed to make (remake) this film and at this time. (10/03/2021)

This is just another Americanized carbon copy overshadowed by the original 2018 Danish movie called The Guilty. There is no point watching it if you have already seen the original as this movie has nothing new to offer. The only enjoyable aspect was Jake Gyllenhaal's focused performance, even though he was really completely wasted in this. (09/15/2021)

I definitely belong to the group that doesn’t quite understand the point of remaking certain films (especially when it’s often laughable how the creators consider the remake to be an original work). This film falls into that category too, but fortunately, Antoine Fuqua and his team managed to get the absolute maximum out of it. After all, casting Gyllenhaal in the lead role alone is enough to attract crowds. Over the past decade, you’d be hard-pressed to find many actors from the younger generation as talented as he is; he immerses himself in his roles in a way that makes your eyes pop. The Danish original already impressed with its story, so I didn’t expect anything different in that regard. I was just a bit disappointed that the creators didn’t make any smaller, thoughtful changes. On the other hand, I felt better about the two crazy twists; they seemed more authentic. I’ll give it a 7, mainly thanks to Gyllenhaal’s masterful performance. Recommended. For me, it’s 7/10. (11/09/2021)

If you're not familiar with the Danish original and were lured in by Jake, you'll probably enjoy this. For those familiar with the original film, it's a complete waste of time that, with complete (and totally irrelevant to the plot) exceptions, just dully copies the excellent original. Unfortunately, Jake Gyllenhaal overacts at times and falls far short of his highest acting qualities as in Prisoners or Zodiac. [55%] (11/22/2021)