The Guilty

A beautiful, unintentional slap in the face of our current filmmakers, who whine all the time that they don't have the money to make films and when they do get it and make something, it's mostly crap. Here's proof that it's not about money – all you need is an idea, a vision and a skilled craftsman. The almost 90 minutes feel like 10, it has tension, it has an unexpected twist in the second act or so; simply, as I've been convinced lately, the Danes are on fire! (14/02/2019)

It’s about the premise, the filmmaking craft, the absolutely claustrophobic atmosphere of a call center. Sure, there’s a whole lot of illogical situations, but I don’t really care. I sat there at the edge of my seat for 85 minutes, completely glued to the screen with suspense. The Guilty has amazed me with great dialogues, a flawed main character and moments that really made me feel something. Another minimalistic but memorable, high-quality piece. (29/07/2018)

Radio drama of the year 2018. Nicely civil in a “Lindholm" way. At the same time, however, it is true that precisely because of civility, all the twists and turns on which it sadly relies too much are from the very beginning quite obvious. And, unfortunately, this includes the occasional logical lapses that break down the civility. But again, it doesn't matter that much, because it will soon take on such a captivating pace that there's still no time to deal with them. (27/12/2018)

A solid debut and Danish one man show starring Jakob Cedergren. The main character is a former police officer with a troubled past who works on the 112 emergency line, and just before his shift ends he gets a call that turns his night into a stressful, exhausting and challenging one. The film takes place entirely in the office and the camera never leaves the protagonist's side for a minute. It features a realistic performance backed by decent dialogues and a fine plot, and the director delivers a solid twist at the end. The film is indeed nicely suspenseful and emotional in places, but, it didn't pull me in as much as I had hoped. Yet I give it a thumbs up and it's definitely worth seeing. 75% (06/11/2018)

A subjectively suffered good deed and Intensive game of contrasts. Both in visual terms from the light and darkness in the two workplaces, and in auditory terms from the nervous silence and bone-chilling vibrations or ringing tones. However, I would consider its most attractive asset the semantic contrast, where the lone sentence on the recording can affect the viewer completely differently every time. I won't argue that it's more than just a suffocating genre film, but it's so well done that I will gladly join the growing buzz. (29/07/2018)

When an entire movie is based on one guy, you need to like him – one way or another. I had pretty mixed feelings about him, though. While I thought he gave a good and believable performance as an actor, I was incredibly annoyed by his superiority and his treatment of his colleagues and the people on the other side of the line. It was quite distracting and as a result I was only interested in what was happening where we couldn't see it. You could say this film is about a single moment in time. And that worked for me. But then it sort of awkwardly fell apart, and suddenly it was over, and that just wasn't enough for me. A weaker 4 stars (03/11/2021)

If someone told me before watching The Guilty that all it takes is one room, one man, and a telephone to create a riveting film, I would have been significantly skeptical. Nevertheless, it works. Thanks to a clever screenplay and a focused and absolutely natural Jakob Cedergren in the role of a police officer, you will witness a minimalist film that has the ability to emotionally shatter you into pieces. The Guilty is an inconspicuous and intimate piece that can easily go unnoticed in the flood of big-budget, visually spectacular action movies, which would be a shame. Therefore, I recommend listening carefully to the voice of a man who can discern, amidst a series of annoying and unnecessary phone calls, the one that leads to a cruel revelation and, with its darkness and hopelessness, breaks free from the routine of emergency hotline workers. Overall impression: 95%. (03/08/2018)

Very nice, tense and surprising. The beginning and the first call with the kidnap victim are gripping, but the pace gradually crumbles due to the not very interesting personal storyline, but the credible dialogues and the strong (though not shocking) twists keep your attention throughout the decent runtime. The original way it casts doubts over who’s guilty and not guilty and the work ethic prevail over the pure formal qualities and the authenticity, and it’s not bad at all. 75% (24/01/2019)

Un drame minimaliste presque exclusivement centré autour du personnage principal, que le spectateur ne quitte pas des yeux pendant une heure et demie et à travers qui l’intégralité de l’histoire et des dialogues avec les rôles secondaires se passe. L’intrigue se déroule uniquement dans les dialogues du héros principal, qui s’exprime dans un combiné téléphonique, et se suffit à elle-même – pas d’effusion de sang, pas d’action, pas d’effets (je me demande d'ailleurs à quelle vitesse le film a été rentabilisé). J’apprécie franchement le concept, mais les quelques raccords illogiques dans le scénario et la finale remplie de tous les clichés possibles et imaginable sont quelque peu gâché mon plaisir. Cela dit, j’admire les créateurs pour avoir pu se conformer, une fois de plus, à la règle consistant à en faire un maximum pour un budget minimum. [KVIFF 2018] (06/07/2018)

Bien que la caméra ne quitte pratiquement jamais le protagoniste principal et ne quitte jamais son poste de travail au centre d'appels de la police, ce thriller est extrêmement captivant et capable de surprendre avec des rebondissements inattendus - et tout cela se passe pratiquement uniquement au téléphone. Cependant, le spectateur découvre progressivement non seulement l'affaire criminelle de l'appel de détresse d'une femme enlevée, mais aussi le contexte et le caractère du protagoniste principal, y compris ses problèmes personnels, ainsi que la routine physiquement exigeante des opérateurs de lignes d'urgence en général. Beaucoup de musique avec des moyens minimalistes, une intimité maximale, mais aussi un effet maximal. (29/06/2018)

Prenez deux pièces et mettez-y un acteur et une lumière rouge, et il n’en faut pas plus pour obtenir le thriller le plus angoissant qui puisse être. Encore une fois et sans surprise, ce sont les Danois qui sont derrière le coup. Un excellent film pour un samedi soir – ou n’importe quel soir de la semaine, d’ailleurs. (20/04/2019)

The Guilty could be described as "a lot of music for little money", even though there is hardly any music in it. The voices of the people that Asger Holm, brilliantly portrayed by Jakob Cedergren, hears on the line gradually kickstart the viewer's imagination to the maximum. At least mine was working at full throttle. In short, this emotionally charged film had me riveted to the screen. I would never have believed that one actor, one room, and one imaginatively conceived family disaster would be enough. (90%) (01/10/2021)