Entertaining, twisted, nerve-wracking, and most importantly, worth watching. The Guilty is the definition of a good suspenseful film. This movie promises to keep you on your toes while watching it. 

Based on the 2018 Danish movie Den Skyldige, The Guilty follows Joe Baylor, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, a demoted police officer assigned to call dispatch as he gets a call from a kidnapped woman and chooses to go out of his way to find her.

I couldn’t tell you if The Guilty does justice to the original movie, however, I believe this was an excellent film. 

Personally,  I enjoyed the concept of it, and how it was portrayed. I loved how even though it took place throughout the course of a few hours and at a single location, the movie managed to deliver an entertaining film that left me wishing for more, especially because of Jake Gyllenhaal’s excellent performance and execution of the role. 

I could feel everything Gyllenhaal felt; the stress, the anxiety, the fear, the raw emotions, it was surreal.

Nonetheless, even though I enjoyed the movie, there is a lot of controversy between those who watched the original movie and felt like it was a failed remake, and those of us who considered this film to be a successful piece regardless of the first movie. 

A critique I have is that they could have probably done a better job giving the audience a little bit more of Joe’s backstory. It takes until the end for us to really know what happened with Joe, and why he’s a demoted police officer.

 This would have been best received at the beginning of the film instead of at the end. 

In addition, I also think that it would be good if the producers would have given us more information about Joe and his daughter’s relationship. 

The movie allows us to assume that the mom of Joe’s daughter has custody of her,  but we are never really told why. The addition of these little details could have allowed for bigger character development that could have increased the audience’s connection with Joe’s character. 

Nonetheless, despite the miniscule things that could be improved, the plot twist at the end was shocking. I really never saw it coming until it happened. It surprised me so much that my eyes were glued to the television for two minutes straight trying to process what just happened. 

At that moment, everything came together. There are not a lot of movies that can put out such a jaw-dropping ending, but The Guilty totally nailed it.

 If I were to rate this movie, I would give it a 7.5 out of 10 because even though the ending was so good, I think that it did miss a mark in regard to character development and back story. 

However, I’ll recommend The Guilty to anyone who is looking for a suspense-based film. 

Though it might not be a masterpiece, The Guilty is totally worth watching.