The last place one would expect to find an emotional connection is on the other end of an emergency services phone call.
There’s an unsettling anxiety that runs rampant throughout call centers worldwide as life and death decisions are made in a matter of seconds. And it is from this chaos that writer/director Gustav Möller creates an unconventional, slow-burn explosion of passion in the dramatic thriller, The Guilty (Den Skyldige). A powerful juxtaposition of calming urgency, The Guilty is a masterclass in suspense with one of the best stomach-lurching shocks I’ve seen all year.
Jakob Cedergren plays Asger Holm, a Danish police officer acting in an emergency operator role, due to a mysterious suspension, until he is able to patrol the streets again. Fifteen minutes before his shift is scheduled to end, Asger receives a rather unusual call from a clearly troubled young woman. A sense of protectiveness kicks in and he is able to discreetly dissect information from Iben (Jessica Dinnage) about her situation, which turns out to be a kidnapping in progress. Taking the call more personally than the others before it, Asger panics when the call is suddenly disconnected, and frantically begins doing everything he can- ethically and not- to figure out the missing pieces of information and bring Iben home.
Similar to Tom Hardy’s performance in ‘Locke’ (another fantastic one-man movie), this is Cedergren’s movie and he commands every moment.
The Guilty is a race against time, playing out in real time. The audience is thrust into the drama the second the film begins, and the high-stakes intensity doesn’t let up for a moment. For as sedentary as the “action” is, the film’s unique ingenuity comes from what is absent on screen. Like Asger, the audience is hearing the situation unfold through the headset, and we use our imagination to visualize what is happening in the world of our protagonist and the victims.
Asger becomes more than just a vessel of relaying information, he becomes a self-appointed voice of reason, even if he oversteps his role as an operator in doing so. He loses his calm, cool, and collected demeanor as he passionately crosses ethical boundaries and although the intent is pure, he slowly begins to make promises that are beyond his control and lose himself to his imagination.
This is a vehicle for Jakob Cedergren to show his range as an emotionally tortured man in a career that disapproves of personal attachment, and his performance is spellbinding. Similar to Tom Hardy’s performance in Locke (another fantastic one-man movie), this is Cedergren’s movie and he commands every moment on screen. The film’s overall aesthetic is dark and looming, taking place all in one room, yet it never feels claustrophobic or stalled. In fact, the film pulsates with energy.
The Guilty is Denmark’s official Oscar entry in the Best Foreign Language category and has already amassed a slew of awards and nominations, including the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Patience is a virtue in The Guilty, and the payoff is phenomenal.
‘The Guilty’ is rated R. 95 minutes. Opening this Friday at Laemmle’s Royal Theater.
