The Guilty is one of those special films that lives up to hype of its trailer. It's a suspenseful thriller that grips you from the opening shot of the emergency dispatcher's headset and doesn't let go until the final frame.
Jakob Cedergren plays Asger Holm, an emergency dispatcher in Denmark. Asger ia trained to respond to emergencies but is inundated with calls dealing with trivial matters such as public drunkeness. Full disclosure: I volunteered at a crisis center. I was trained to handle dustressed suicidal callers but 95% of the calls were from distressed lonely people. Kudos to writers Gustav Möller and Emil Nygaard Albertsen for getting the tone of the call center right. It's their brilliant script and Cedergreen's solo performance that keep us on the edge of our seats.
Asger's tone shifts from condemnation to concern immediately when he gets a call from Iben, a kidnapped mother of two that is calling from her ex husband's getaway car. Asger goes on a mission to track the runaway vehicle. The inciting incident of the movie sets the tone for the movie because we are with Asger in that confined work space as he tries to save Iben (voiced by Jessica Dinnage) - who we never see on screen but listen to her shrieking terror echoing in Asger's headset.
Cedergreen gives an academy award acting performance as the edgy, brooding and empathetic Asger. It's his movie. He is reacting to the story beats on the page. He is alone for half the film in a private room, reacting not to glances, voices or expressions but to distressed voices coming from his headset. It's Cedergreen that carries this picture. It's his film. Gustav Möller and Emil Nygaard Albertsen's brilliant script bring the best out of Cedergreen.
The twists and turns make us forget that the entire movie is set at the call center. The script is so powerful that the movie doesn't need a score to trigger an audience's responses to what is happening on screen. We even forgive Möller's stylistic choices such as confining Cedergreen to confined medium close ups and close ups. They work but a one take and more creative staging might have pushed The Guilty into cinematic acendency. One can only wonder what Soderbergh would have done with this near perfect script.
The Guilty is inspiration for independent cinema. A simple premise, a fantastic script, and a strong performance - and not millions of dollars and a star - are fundamental in making a triumphant movie.
The Guilty plays at Bell Lightbox until Nov 1.
Reviewed by Vince Sannuto (writer and director of Quarter Life Crisis movie)
