A single phone call turns a routine night into a nightmare for both Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren) and the audience, proving why The Guilty (2018) is a masterpiece of tension. The story follows a kidnapped woman who manages to make a late-night call to a police officer who’s due in court the next morning for an on-duty shooting. However, there’s more to the mysterious captive, and that’s what kicks off the real action.
This Gustav Möller directorial debut received applause from the audience and critics for its thrilling plot twists, high-tension stakes, and Cedergren’s electrifying performance. It even earned a 98% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite being a low-budget movie filmed in one location, The Guilty checks most of the boxes of a perfect crime thriller. Let’s dig into this Danish cinematic treasure below.Â
‘The Guilty’ Uses a Single Room to Create Some Serious Tension
The Guilty is set in Emergency East’s 911 call center, where troubled police officer Asger Holm awaits a hearing for shooting a 19-year-old. In the meantime, he is temporarily reassigned to respond to emergency calls pending the outcome of his court proceedings. At the start of the evening, he basically sits there picking up one prank call after another. The action begins when he receives a call from Iben Ostergard (Jessica Dinnage), who seems unusually cool considering she’s been kidnapped.
What follows is a nerve-wracking tension that builds slowly as Asger keeps the phone conversation with Iben going. The dialogue between them is mostly abrupt and short, building intense suspense. Möller masterfully builds this by immersing the audience in the unfolding drama. He achieves this without giving audiences a glimpse of the victim, the car she’s being held in, or the driver. The only things they have to go on are the woman’s shaky description of a white van and additional details Officer Rashid (Omar Shargawi) manages to dig up later. Rashid is also set to testify at Asger’s trial the next morning, so what he finds matters even more.
Just when it feels like the situation can’t go off the rails any more than it already has, Rashid finds something peculiar at the alleged kidnapper Michael Berg’s (Johan Olsen) house, and best believe that it flips everything. While things calm down for a bit, the story keeps throwing surprises, holding just about everyone on edge.
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The Real Power of ‘The Guilty’ Is How It Messes With Your Head
With its emotionally charged atmosphere and complex psychological layers, The Guilty is highly recommended for anyone who likes a good psychological thriller. Whether internal or external, conflict shapes perception and impacts decisions, especially under pressure. Asger, Iben, and Michael are grappling with emotional turmoil, which affects them differently. The protagonist is deeply burdened by guilt and desperate to fix his colleague’s situation by any means possible. Iben’s mental state adds another layer of uncertainty, while Michael’s criminal past presents him as the obvious villain.
The audience’s perspective on Asger’s character heightens the film’s psychological tension. He is the face of the story and the only one with any camera time. The director repeatedly uses close-up shots to capture his emotions, including frustration, guilt, and desperation. Every action or reaction he displays draws viewers closer into his mind as the tension unfolds. Meanwhile, Iben and Michael’s side of the story unfolds through sound, from moving cars to panic-breathing sequences and distant sirens, all of which amplify tension, leaving viewers to fill in the dreadful gaps.
The Guilty’s ending leaves Asger’s fate open to interpretation as he makes one final, uncertain phone call. This is no doubt a stark difference from its 2021 Hollywood remake of the same title, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the central character, Joe Baylor. Here, the director, Antoine Fuqua, takes away that liberty with a conclusive resolution. Interestingly, allowing the audience to make their choices at the end, along with the film’s tense atmosphere, gives Gustav Möller’s film a one-up on its remake. The Danish original delivered more intense and thought-provoking experiences than the American version.
Catch up with the nerve-shredding story by streaming The Guilty on HBO Max.
