The Guilty (2021 film)

Last updated

The Guilty
The Guilty (2021 film).jpg
Official release poster
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Screenplay by Nic Pizzolatto
Based on
Den skyldige
by
  • Gustav Möller
  • Emil Nygaard Albertsen
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMaz Makhani
Edited by Jason Ballantine
Music by Marcelo Zarvos
Production
companies
Distributed by Netflix
Release dates
  • September 11, 2021 (2021-09-11)(TIFF)
  • September 24, 2021 (2021-09-24)(United States)
Running time
90 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Guilty is a 2021 American crime thriller film directed and produced by Antoine Fuqua, from a screenplay by Nic Pizzolatto. A remake of the 2018 Danish film of the same name, the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Christina Vidal, with the voices of Ethan Hawke, Riley Keough, Eli Goree, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Paul Dano, and Peter Sarsgaard.

Contents

The Guilty had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2021. [2] The film was released in a limited release on September 24, 2021, then digitally on Netflix on October 1. It received positive reviews from critics, with Gyllenhaal's performance being praised, but it is felt that the remake was inferior to the original film.

Plot

Troubled LAPD officer Joe Baylor works the night shift at a 911 call center while awaiting a court hearing for an incident that occurred on duty eight months prior. He answers a call from Emily Lighton, a woman that reveals she has been abducted. While traveling in a white van, Emily is forced to hang up before she can provide more details. Joe relays the information to the California Highway Patrol, who cannot locate the van without a license plate number.

Joe calls Emily's home phone and speaks with her six-year-old daughter Abby, who tells him that her mom left the house with her dad, Henry Fisher. After getting Henry's cell phone number from Abby, he is able to retrieve the van's plate number.

Joe also learns that Henry has a record of assault, so he calls Sergeant Miller to send a patrol unit to Emily's home to do a welfare check on Abby and her baby brother, Oliver. He also requests he send another to investigate Henry's apartment. Miller refuses to send anyone to Henry's without a warrant. Reminding Joe of his legal issues, Miller suggests he stop investigating. Afterwards, Joe calls Henry and demands to know where he is taking Emily. Henry hangs up after Joe starts asking questions in an accusatory tone. Joe then calls his former partner, Rick, who is off-duty. Joe asks him to go to Henry's house. Rick complies, but also expresses concern about Joe's upcoming hearing at which he is set to provide testimony.

Joe receives a panicked call from Abby when two officers arrive at her home; he instructs her to let them in. The officers notice blood on Abby and, upon searching the property, find Oliver in the bedroom either gravely injured or dead. Joe calls Henry and accuses him of killing his son. Henry hangs up again. On the line again with Emily, Joe tells her to try to crash the van. Emily makes an attempt, to no avail.

Meanwhile, Rick breaks into Henry's apartment and finds documents showing that Emily had recently been a patient in a psychiatric treatment facility in San Bernardino. Back on the phone with Emily, she admits she thinks she will die and does not want to be locked up again. Emily goes on to say that she believed Oliver had "snakes in his stomach" and that she "took them out." Joe realizes that Emily was the one who hurt baby Oliver, and Henry is trying to have her readmitted to the psychiatric hospital. Outside of the van, Emily hits Henry with a brick and runs away.

On the phone with Joe, Henry explains that she had been off her medication for a number of weeks, as they could not afford them. Henry feels guilty about having left Emily, believing this triggered the psychotic episode during which she hurt Oliver. Henry does not trust the police and the criminal justice system due to his own legal troubles and because of the many failed attempts by various government agencies to "help" his mentally ill wife. Emily does not know what she has done and Henry fears what she will do after she finds out.

Eventually, Emily calls Joe back from a freeway overpass, while preparing to commit suicide. Joe directs the CHP to her location while attempting to talk her down; he tries to distract her by revealing that he killed a 19-year-old while on duty because he was angry with him for hurting someone. Joe tells Emily that Abby needs her and that he promised Abby she would come home. As officers arrive, Emily hangs up. After repeated attempts to call her back, Joe calls the CHP dispatcher who conveys that Emily is alive. He then learns that baby Oliver is alive and in the hospital, recovering from his injuries.

An overcome Joe calls Rick and asks him to tell the truth at the hearing, even if it means he will spend years in prison. Joe then announces to the media that he will plead guilty to a charge of manslaughter.

Cast

Voices

Production

In December 2018, it was announced Jake Gyllenhaal had acquired rights to the 2018 Danish thriller film The Guilty , and would star in and produce a remake under his Nine Stories Productions banner, alongside Bold Films. [3] In September 2020, it was announced Antoine Fuqua would direct and produce the film, from a screenplay by Nic Pizzolatto with uncredited revisions from Gyllenhaal. [4] [5] Later that month, Netflix acquired worldwide rights to the film for $30 million. [6] In November 2020, Ethan Hawke, Peter Sarsgaard, Riley Keough, Paul Dano, Byron Bowers, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, David Castaneda, Christina Vidal, Adrian Martinez, Bill Burr, Beau Knapp and Edi Patterson joined the cast of the film. [7]

Principal photography began in Los Angeles in November 2020, [8] [9] during the COVID-19 pandemic, and lasted for 11 days. Three days before production was set to begin, a person in contact with director Antoine Fuqua tested positive for COVID-19. Fuqua tested negative subsequently, so the production was still on schedule. He directed the entire film from a van called Colorspace [10] with screens that had access to the cameras, maintaining contact with the cast and the crew. [11]

Release

The Guilty had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2021. [12] It received a limited release on September 24, 2021, prior to streaming on Netflix on October 1, 2021. [13]

The film was streamed in 69 million households over the first month of its release, and was the top-watched film on the platform in 91 countries. [14]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74% based on 191 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Guilty is another Americanized remake overshadowed by the original, but its premise is still sturdy enough to support a tense, well-acted thriller." [15] Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 63 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [16]

Related Research Articles

<i>Training Day</i> 2001 film directed by Antoine Fuqua

Training Day is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer. It stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, two LAPD narcotics officers over a 24-hour period in the gang-ridden neighborhoods of Westlake, Echo Park, and South Central Los Angeles. It also features Scott Glenn, Eva Mendes, Cliff Curtis, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Macy Gray in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggie Gyllenhaal</span> American actress and filmmaker (born 1977)

Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal is an American actress and filmmaker. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Achs, and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Gyllenhaal</span> American actor (born 1980)

Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal is an American actor. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and the younger brother of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He began acting as a child, making his acting debut in City Slickers (1991), followed by roles in his father's films A Dangerous Woman (1993) and Homegrown (1998). His breakthrough roles were as Homer Hickam in October Sky (1999) and as a psychologically troubled teenager in Donnie Darko (2001).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riley Keough</span> American actress (born 1989)

Danielle Riley Keough is an American actress. She made her feature film debut in a supporting part in the musical biopic The Runaways (2010), portraying Marie Currie. Keough subsequently starred in the independent thriller The Good Doctor (2011), before being cast in a minor role in Steven Soderbergh's comedy film Magic Mike (2012). She had her first big-budget release in the action feature Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antoine Fuqua</span> American film director

Antoine Fuqua is an American film director known for his work in the action and thriller genres. He was originally known as a director of music videos, and made his film debut in 1998 with The Replacement Killers. His critical breakthrough was the 2001 crime thriller Training Day, winning the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoe Kazan</span> American actress (born 1983)

Zoe Swicord Kazan is an American actress, playwright, and screenwriter. She made her acting debut in the film Swordswallowers and Thin Men (2003) and later acted in films such as The Savages (2007), Revolutionary Road (2008), and It's Complicated (2009). She starred in Happythankyoumoreplease (2010), Meek's Cutoff (2010), Ruby Sparks (2012), What If (2013), The Big Sick (2017), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), and She Said (2021). She also wrote Ruby Sparks and co-wrote Wildlife (2018) with her partner Paul Dano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Collins</span> British and American actress (born 1989)

Lily Jane Collins is a British and American actress. Born in Guildford and raised in Los Angeles, she began performing on screen at the age of two in the BBC sitcom Growing Pains. In the late 2000s, she began acting and modelling more regularly, and gained recognition for her supporting role in the sports drama film The Blind Side (2009). She went on to star in several films, including the horror film Priest (2011), the thriller Abduction (2011), and the fantasy films Mirror Mirror (2012) and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013).

<i>Southpaw</i> (film) 2015 film by Antoine Fuqua

Southpaw is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by Kurt Sutter and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker and Rachel McAdams. The film follows a boxer who sets out to get his life back on track after losing his wife after a gunshot and later his young daughter to child protective services. The film was released on July 24, 2015, by The Weinstein Company. The film received mixed reviews from critics, while Gyllenhaal and Oona Laurence's performances received positive reviews. The film grossed $95 million worldwide against a production budget of $30 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bella Heathcote</span> Australian actress (born 1987)

Isabella Heathcote is an Australian actress. Following her film debut in Acolytes (2008), she had a recurring role as Amanda Fowler on the television soap opera Neighbours (2009). She gained further recognition for her dual roles as Victoria Winters and Josette du Pres in the dark fantasy film Dark Shadows (2012), and Olive Byrne in the biographical drama film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Gyllenhaal on screen and stage</span>

Jake Gyllenhaal is an American actor and producer who has appeared in over 35 motion pictures, three television programs, one commercial, and four music videos. He made his film debut in 1991 with a minor role in the comedy-drama City Slickers. In 1993, he appeared in A Dangerous Woman, a motion picture adaptation directed by Gyllenhaal's father Stephen Gyllenhaal and co-written by his mother Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal that was based on the novel of the same name by Mary McGarry Morris. In the following year, he portrayed Robin Williams' son in an episode of the police procedural television series Homicide: Life on the Street; the episode was directed by his father. In 1999, Gyllenhaal starred in the Joe Johnston-directed drama October Sky; the film was received warmly by critics, and Gyllenhaal's portrayal of the NASA engineer Homer Hickam was praised.

<i>The Magnificent Seven</i> (2016 film) American film by Antoine Fuqua

The Magnificent Seven is a 2016 American Western action film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk. It is a remake of the 1960 film of the same name, which itself was a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film Seven Samurai. The film stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier and Peter Sarsgaard. It was the final film of composer James Horner, who died the previous year after composing part of the score. His friend Simon Franglen completed the music. Principal photography began on May 18, 2015, north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bold Films</span> American independent film production and finance company

Bold Films is an American independent multimedia production and finance company. Bold was founded in 2004.

<i>The Guilty</i> (2018 film) Danish crime thriller film by Gustav Möller

The Guilty is a 2018 Danish crime thriller film written by Gustav Möller and Emil Nygaard Albertsen and directed by Möller in his directorial debut. It debuted in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival., and was later selected as the Danish submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, making the December shortlist.

<i>Velvet Buzzsaw</i> 2019 film directed by Dan Gilroy

Velvet Buzzsaw is a 2019 American satirical black comedy horror film directed and written by Dan Gilroy and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Zawe Ashton, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Daveed Diggs, Tom Sturridge, Natalia Dyer, Billy Magnussen, and John Malkovich. The film had its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival on January 27.

<i>The Lost Daughter</i> (film) 2021 film by Maggie Gyllenhaal

The Lost Daughter is a 2021 psychological drama film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Elena Ferrante. The film stars Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Dagmara Domińczyk, Jack Farthing, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ed Harris. Colman also served as an executive producer.

<i>Ambulance</i> (2022 film) 2022 film by Michael Bay

Ambulance is a 2022 American action thriller film directed and co-produced by Michael Bay and written by Chris Fedak. A co-production between New Republic Pictures, Project X Entertainment and Bay Films, it is a remake of the 2005 Danish film Ambulancen. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as adoptive brothers who hijack an ambulance after robbing a bank, and take a paramedic and a police officer hostage.

<i>The Equalizer 3</i> 2023 film by Antoine Fuqua

The Equalizer 3 is a 2023 American vigilante action film directed by Antoine Fuqua. It is a sequel to The Equalizer 2 and the third and final installment of The Equalizer trilogy, based on the television series of the same name. The film stars Denzel Washington, reprising his role as retired U.S. Marine and DIA officer Robert McCall, with Dakota Fanning, Eugenio Mastrandrea, David Denman, Gaia Scodellaro, and Remo Girone in supporting roles. In the film, McCall discovers that his new friends in a small town in South Italy are intimidated by Camorra members, where he sets out to save them from the threat.

<i>Road House</i> (2024 film) American film by Doug Liman

Road House is a 2024 American action film directed by Doug Liman, written by Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry and produced by Joel Silver. It is a remake of the 1989 film of the same name and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Conor McGregor, J. D. Pardo, Arturo Castro and Billy Magnussen.

Presumed Innocent is an upcoming American legal thriller miniseries created by David E. Kelley, based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Scott Turow. It is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on June 14, 2024.

The Bride! is an upcoming American science fiction horror film directed, written and co-produced by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Penélope Cruz, Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening and Julianne Hough. The film draws inspiration from James Whale's 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, itself adapted from Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818).

References

  1. ↑ "The Guilty". Toronto International Film Festival . Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  2. ↑ Hammond, Pete (June 23, 2021). "Melissa McCarthy, Kenneth Branagh, Edgar Wright Movies Among First Set For Toronto Film Festival; In-Person Theater And Digital Screenings Planned". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  3. ↑ Kroll, Justin (December 10, 2018). "Jake Gyllenhaal to Star in Remake of Denmark's Oscar Entry 'The Guilty' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  4. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 15, 2020). "'Southpaw' Duo Jake Gyllenhaal & Antoine Fuqua To Re-Team On Tense Thriller 'The Guilty'". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  5. ↑ Connelly, Brendan (September 8, 2021). "Turns out that Jake Gyllenhaal also co-wrote his new film". Film Stories. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  6. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 23, 2020). "Netflix Lands Jake Gyllenhaal-Antoine Fuqua Package 'The Guilty' In $30 Million WW Deal". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  7. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (November 13, 2020). "'The Guilty': Ethan Hawke, Peter Sarsgaard, Riley Keough & More Join Jake Gyllenhaal In Antoine Fuqua-Directed Netflix Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  8. ↑ "The Guilty". Backstage. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  9. ↑ Kroll, Justin (November 11, 2020). "Michael Bay To Direct Action-Thriller 'Ambulance' With Jake Gyllenhaal In Talks To Star". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  10. ↑ A Conversation with the Producers of THE GUILTY. Producers Guild of America . Retrieved January 13, 2022– via YouTube.
  11. ↑ "The Guilty". Facebook. Jake Gyllenhaal. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  12. ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (July 20, 2021). "Toronto Film Festival Lineup Adds 'Dear Evan Hansen,' 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' and 'Clifford the Big Red Dog'". Variety. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  13. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (August 23, 2021). "Netflix Dates Fall Movies: A Whopping 42 Movies Coming At You". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  14. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 18, 2021). "Jake Gyllenhaal On Antoine Fuqua Netflix Film 'The Guilty': 69 Million Households, No. 1 In 91 Countries". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  15. ↑ "The Guilty". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  16. ↑ "The Guilty Reviews". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.