The Guilty Review

The Guilty Review

The Guilty Review – The Guilty is a Danish thriller released in 2018. Holm, a police officer is assigned to a desk duty while he is being under a disciplinary review. One night he attends to an emergency call from a woman in distress who is being abducted. What happens to be a boring last night of the desk job turns into a long night of desperation and fast-paced action to get her back safely.

I got to watch this movie at 11th Bengaluru International Film Festival http://biffes.in opening night. The movie starts with an extreme closeup shot of a headset and we see Holms attending a distress call. In the next few minutes, we are introduced to the typical life inside a police emergency call room. And very soon you realize you are going to experience the whole movie like that of a cop sitting on a desk and managing things. As you start to wonder if the next eighty minutes will it be interesting, your mind wanders as the call comes in and builds up the visuals as it recreates the scenes from the sound through the headset.

Director Gustav Möller has teased the brain cells into building the images that are as compelling as real scenes. The brilliant sound engineering playing through the Atmos speakers, aids the mind in building some great visuals. How much you would like this movie would depend on how best your mind can build the scenes.

Although the entire movie is on the desk of Holm, you are always on the edge of the seat in the thrilling ride. The director and screenwriters have woven in additional layers of Holm’s personal life crisis into the whole episode which increases the grittiness of the episode and makes you emotionally connect with it. Actor Jakob Cedergren has given a very compelling performance. His expressions on the extreme closeup shots, increases the grittiness of the tale.

High Points – Very gripping screenplay, short duration of the film, brilliant sound engineering, Actor Jakob Cedergren’s splendid performance

Low Points – If you struggle with imagining the visuals then you might find yourself disconnected.

As you walk out of the hall you have a full fledged action thriller. If you love thrillers, this one is a must watch

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