22 Sep TIFF REVIEW – ‘The Guilty’ is little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor

When American filmmakers get their hands on the rights to remake an international feature film, we’re generally served something that’s little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor. If you’ve never seen the original, that’s perfectly fine. But if you’re familiar with what came before, it’s the worst example of cinematic déjà vu. Such is the case with Antoine Fuqua‘s The Guilty, an almost beat for beat remake of Gustav Möller’s 2018 Danish film of the same name.

For those terrified of subtitles and without any previous knowledge of this narrative, The Guilty will play like a tight little thriller that will consistently keep you on your toes and knock you out with plenty of twists and surprises. But those who have seen Möller’s original will be left scratching their heads over the existence of something that lazily follows the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rule and just offers everything you’ve seen before.

Set in the chaotic world of an LAPD 911 dispatch call centre, The Guilty focuses on Joe Baylor (a typically terrific Jake Gyllenhaal), a troubled police officer who’s been relegated to the position of call operator while he awaits his upcoming court case related to an unspecified workplace incident. Anxious and embarrassed by his predicament, Joe is subjected to a series of inane calls that only further frustrate his short temper.

Joe’s dull night shift is soon turned upside down when he takes a call from Emily (voiced by Riley Keough), a distraught woman who’s been abducted by her estranged husband, Henry (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard), leaving their two young children home alone. As Joe desperately attempts to seek help from the California Highway Patrol with the bare details he can obtain from Emily, he becomes embroiled in the young woman’s plight which may also offer him a chance at redemption.

Filmed in the midst of coronavirus restrictions, The Guilty takes place entirely within the confines of the dispatch centre. Literally. We never see Emily or any of the dangerous chaos she’s suffering through.  Fuqua keeps the camera locked on Gyllenhaal for practically the entire film. While the idea of watching a man talk on the phone may not sound like the most thrilling way to spend 90 minutes, Gyllenhaal’s commanding performance completely carries this simplistic conceit and sells the hell out of it.

It’s hardly surprising Gyllenhaal can shoulder such a burden, but it’s no less impressive watching this gripping showcase for his impeccable talent. It’s not a hugely physical performance, leaving Gyllenhaal to convey everything through his face and voice. Both are constantly dripping with Joe’s emotion, panic, and desperation. As always, Gyllenhaal brings immense intensity to this role and Joe’s torment and anguish are truly palpable. This film lives or dies on Gyllenhaal’s performance. Thankfully, he’s completely up for the task.

While Fuqua and screenwriter Nic Pizzolatto make a concerted effort to Americanise this remake, it barely reworks the template laid in the original. Wildfires are raging around California, adding obstacles to Joe’s calls for the local authorities to quickly locate Emily. The screenplay touches on notions of the very American problem of police brutality and mental health issues in the workplace but fails to take the time to explore either topic with any real depth. Fuqua is happy to simply point the camera at Gyllenhaal and allow him to do what he does best.

Even for those familiar with the Danish original, Gyllenhaal’s electric performance is entirely worth this rehash. But for audiences coming into The Guilty completely blind, you’ll be spellbound by what Gyllenhaal is laying down plus the thrills of this twist-filled narrative. It constantly flirts with melodrama, but Gyllenhaal is wise enough to never let this film or his performance spiral into farce. Remakes like this work best for those uninitiated with international cinema. Let’s face it, that’s a huge chunk of Netflix’s target audience where this engaging thriller will likely perform extremely well.