User reviews

I watched the Netflix film first, and then thanks to the reviews on that one, discovered this Danish original and watched that too.

The Netflix film is a taught and effective thriller, with a great central performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. It's mostly word-for-word the same as the Danish version. And it's free if you have Netflix!

The Danish version is £2.99 on Amazon. It's less stylish and less melodramatic, but much more believable and affecting. I cared more for all the characters, and despite knowing exactly how it was going to play out, I was hooked throughout. At times I couldn't look away.

The Netflix film adds an unneccesary personal arc, some wildfire-related melodrama, and a set more like a James Bond MI5 office than a 911 (or 112) call centre - all of which reduced the impact and made the film less engaging.

If you're definitely not going to watch the Danish version, the Netflix one is a good bet. If you're ok to watch either, choose this original - it's a lot more suspensful and completely captivating. (Ideally, unlike me, don't watch both!)

In the vein of Locke, this super low-budget but effective thriller had me on the edge of my seat. It had the appropriate twists and turns to keep the audience guessing. It played with my emotions and had me in tears. How come Danish films are often just so good?

Unfolding in real time, this immediately involving story bends and turns in surprising, sometimes horrifying ways. Enriched by Oskar Skriver's marvelous sound editing, which takes us from a speeding van to a bloodcurdling crime scene with equal authenticity, the movie smoothly blends police procedural with character study. What's happening on the end of Asger's phone line is gripping enough, but what's happening inside his head - illuminated by Jasper Spanning's almost abusive close-ups - is every bit as fascinating.

With an amazing actor in Jacob Cedergren, the director and crew of this film has pulled off what appears to be one of the best low-budget movies ever made.

The movie is immensely exciting, and deserves to be world famous. Everything about this movie is perfect, and shows that you don't need deep hollywood pockets to make an amazing movie.

Extra points for having a great trailer without spoilers, seems like this is a hard thing to do for most producers nowadays...

I watched this in theatre, and when it finished I found out that I didn't finish my overpriced beer. Haven't been this engaged in a movie in a while 10/10!

I watched this at the festival where after the projection we had a QA session with the director.

The Film itself is technically impressive, all framed within 2 rooms where all you'll see is the main character at the phone and very little more. This is not a limitation but instead the strength of the Movie itself; it's all about guided imagination. The dialogues push your figurative skills to build this outdoor world that is intentionally not shown to you.

There has been a lot of background work/preparation for this Film and it's all visible in the final product.

The director did a great job alternating long moments of high tension with some short funny ones to engage the audience.

I do consider this Movie very unique and original but you might find some similarities with Locke and perhaps also Phone Boot where a series of phone calls is the actual stage.

Unmissable title for 2018

Bravo!

Considering all the action is taking place in one room and happens via phone call in Danish language, it's incredible how it keeps you on the edge of your seat with strong character development, great acting and intriguing plot twists

Had the chance to see the movie weeks prior to its official release on ocotbre 18th here in Switzerland at the Zurich Film Festival.

I'm usually not a fan of crime/thriller movies but this one has earned a special place in my heart. The simple premise (police officer with troubling past, has to work at the emergency hotline, just when his shift ends a woman who is being abducted reaches his line, the chase begins) took me in immediately and didn't let up until the end credits showed. The movie has two main plots: The abducted woman and Asger Holm's (main character, police officer) past. In the beginning we do not know much about either plot, but as the movie goes on more and more secrecy is peeled off. Both stories have their climax at the very same moment and make that moment in the movie all the more dramatic.

So much about the plot, on to the cinematography and other technicalities:

The whole movie takes place in the emergency phone central of Kopenhagen Denmark and is filmed in two rooms, the main office and a smaller one desk room. Lots of closeups of the main character let us really get into his head. The story of the movie is told only through phonecalls that he makes to a number of people all involved in the abduction. The movie was shot in only 13 days, which makes the cinematography even more impressive; all the shots have a purpose and hit their beats excellently. Feelings and character development is mostly conveyed through facial expression and dialogue. The sound design is on par with the acting, exciting at highpoints and subtle in quiet moments but always present.

The plot stays quite unpredictable for a long time and even if you have a hunch, some details about it may still come as a surprise.

Very good first time experience, however I am unsure about the rewatchability. On the other hand I still like to rewatch Fightclub, Memento and Shutter Island as well.

Jakob Cedergren plays a police officer assigned to a 911 call center who receives a call from a woman who has been kidnapped. The call center is the set for the entire course of the film. The tension is Hitchcock like with enough twists and turns to keep the viewers attention. At 85 minutes the movie moves quickly and the conclusion is a bit disappointing but I recommend The Guilty.

Let me first say this is my first user review on IMDB. After watching this masterpiece of a movie at the cinema tonight, I just had to! Its so intense and as you watch it you get pictures in your head and it feels like your right in there all the way. Now these days you often or almost never see a good movie at the theaters. Most films are mostly computer effects and bad acting. BUT this guys is world class acting and production! A must for everyone who likes quality over quantity

Had to turn off the movie after 30 minutes.

Having worked in Copenhagen Police for 7 years patrolling and with almost daily visits to dispatch I got so annoyed that apparently no research was done on how emergency service and dispatch works. If a case like that happens there would always be several people involved from the get go. The emergency caller can always stay on the phone and he's writing updates on a computer that dispatch can see (they are also in the same room). There's always a good and helpful vibe between colleagues as it's in everyone's best interest to solve the task given. The way the colleagues communicate in the movie is simply so far from reality.

I'm obviously fully aware that this is fiction and drama. But when choosing a narrative that tries to look authentic - you should at least make a better effort to make it authentic.

This is so far off - unfortunately!

Your imagination makes this movie. It's like a book. Asgers works at the 911 (112) emergency call, he gets a call from a woman being kidnapped. The film made me angry, disgusted, sad and so on.. Asgers character development was surprising. Really liked it, proud to be a dane.

The Guilty is one of the best films of the year. Best described as Rear Window meets The Detective Story, it follows a former cop, who is now an emergency call center operator. There are so many revelations that it would be a crime to spoil it for you. So suffice it to say, GO SEE IT! If you love movies then you simply must see this one!

The director does a wonderful job of creating vivid pictures just by sound. He does not miss out not only content and information from human voice but also small details in the backdrop such as noises that a car makes, pace of breath, or raindrop.

Script in general is captivating enough, but there are many holes in the storyline. For the first half, when suspense is building up and tension is getting high, many factors pause that process, thus resulting in insipdness. I know it's important to show Asger's emotional and passionate side of him, but I believe the director should have chosen thriller side or drama side more clearly and decisively. Asger acquires plate number but spends the whole time talking to Mathilde. Him talking to Michael can be deleted, and it would not affect the story. His co-workers at the emergency center keep interrupting him as well. Chopping off unimportant events and trimming the storyline could have made the film move faster and made audience focus more intently.

I like a small detail of lighting switching from white to red after revealing event, emitting whole different atmosphere of Asger's face.

"The Guilty" is one of those one-man show movies that revolve around a single character in a single location working through some sort of dramatic situation. In this film, the character is a cop who's been put on 911 call center duty while he awaits trial for misconduct on the job. The way he handles the emergency that falls into his lap and the way he goes about making decisions, most of them bad ones, tells us a lot about him and how he probably ended up on trial in the first place.

Movies like this are always going to feel to a certain extent like gimmicks and will have to deal with the distractions that come with that (How will it maintain dramatic tension? How will it remain visually engaging?) This one uses a plot twist that serves to both throw the audience for a loop and reveal much about our main character, namely that he makes a whole heap of assumptions when dealing with a crisis scenario, not the best attribute for a police officer.

A slick, effective little thriller that's well worth your time.

Grade: A-

Like most of the films I watch, I know very little about them other than 1. Genre and 2. Rating. To be fair, the premise and unfolding of "The Guilty" seemed implausible. Would the Danish 911 service actually let the dispatcher behave that way? I know in America such behavior wouldn't fly at all, but this is Denmark, so maybe they're a little looser with their laws there. The acting was top notch especially considering it was basically a one-man show. Could've been dull but it wasn't. This is one of those flicks that a film student could learn from, that is, how to create an intriguing movie with VERY limited actors and settings but still be interesting to watch. By that token, "The Guilty" hits its mark. Story-wise? Well, that's a kind of difficult pill to ingest.

This is an effective minimalist thriller that keeps you glued to the screen. You may remember other films carried out almost entirely by a single character like Locke (2013) starring Tom Hardy or even Buried (2010) starring Ryan Reynolds, but in my opinion, Den Skyldige is definitely different and definitely better.

The good performance of the main role is essential to fit into a tremendous script, full of awkward silences and shocking stories. The main call, you don't see it coming. It hits you with the brutality of the entire film genre. It kicks you on the ground and you don't even want to defend yourself. You look (or listen) in awe and they didn't even need a single pixel of visual effect, nor a second of the presence of a stuntman.

Here we see the great importance of a job well done, only in the field of audio and sound montage within a film.

Simply brilliant. One of the best danish films that I've seen.

Making the most of its minimal setting & limited resources to deliver a tense, taut & thrilling delight that definitely ranks amongst last year's finest films, The Guilty is an increasingly unnerving, consistently engaging & downright sophisticated thriller from Denmark that's expertly crafted, tightly plotted & neatly executed. It may look simple in structure but beneath its surface lies a finely layered tale of emotional baggage & moral conflict that imparts an additional weight to its drama while slowly elevating the tension to never-wracking levels.

Strong storyline, well acted by the main (practically the only on-screen) character. The atmosphere is good, and it's some achievement for a film that is basically a series of phone calls to keep you interested and rooting for the off-screen characters.

Why has the director done NO research into how serious crime is handled by emergency services? Unwatchable.

This is a brilliant debut by the director/ writer. A tense psychological thriller with a tour de force by the actor Jakob Cedergren.