“The Guilty” is a screenplay by Nic Pizzolatto, directed by Antoine Fuqua. This movie is adapted from another movie called “The Guilty” made in 2018. For the sake of this review, I’m going to look at it as a stand-alone movie.

I think everything about this movie is amazing. The acting, especially Jake Gyllenhaal (Joe), was unbelievable. His role in Nightcrawler definitely inspired this character, the normal-seeming guy that is revealed as being corrupt. The entire movie takes place in a 911 Call Center, which you would think would make the movie boring. But his acting, and the writing, hold the audience’s focus the entire movie.

The pace of the movie was perfect, which is crucial for the movie. The cinematography is also perfect. The premise of the movie is just Joe doing his job like he normally does. Then he gets a call from a woman who he finds out has been abducted. Most of the movie after this is Joe trying to save the woman.

The genius thing about this movie is that it is told only through dialogue. Being able to see only Joe react to everything going on is so cool. There are also some amazing plot twists that make the movie even better.

Some other notable details are that the voice acting was done over a zoom call with the entire cast, and the filming was done in only 11 days, which is practically unheard of. The voice acting was also done by well-known actors, which is fun, including Ethan Hawke, Riley Keough, Paul Dano, Adrian Matinez, Bill Burr, Gillian Zinser, and more.

All in all, I love this movie. It is absolutely one of my favorites, and Gyllenhaal was definitely a good choice. Without him, this movie would’ve been just ok.