The guilty

"The guilty"

Watched English movie "The guilty". Direction: Antoine Fuqua. Screenplay: Nic Pizzolatto. Produced by Jake Gyllenhaal and others. Cinematography Maz Makhani. Music by Marcelo Zarvos. It features Jake Gyllenhaal, Adrian Martinez, Christina Vidal and other actors who provided voice over. The movie was released in 2021 and runs for about 1 hour 31 minutes. I watched it on Netflix on 18th Oct 2021 with Aditi.

Joe Baylor is on 911 operator duty. He is a cop but is put on 911 operator duty as a punishment. A mother calls 911 pretending to talk to her daughter. Joe wants to help her. He tries to do everything to save her. 

Joe is going through a difficult time. He is separated from his wife and daughter, there is an impending court case up for verdict the next day that will decide his career and to top it he is facing health issues. 

Rather than doing the job of 911 operator and reporting the emergency to the respective authorities, the cop within him takes over and he coordinates the search and rescue of the victim. 

This is a challenging movie to direct. All the story happens in the 911 call center with almost no outdoor scene. In such a movie, unless the screenplay and direction is gripping, retaining audience interest is difficult. Director does a commendable job. Screenplay is compact. Most important character in this movie is Jake. He does well as the protagonist. He looks good, acts well and portrays the character very well. Second most important character in this movie is phone. Without phones, this movie wouldn't have happened. 

This movie is based on 2018 Danish film by the same name. Since I haven't watched the original film, can't say if this is just a copy of original or if the writer, director and actors have brought something original to it. 

Recommend watching if you like the genre.