Let’s Go To The Movies (Genre Assignment 2 ENG160)

Danielle Potack

Instructor Kissel

ENG 160.20

October 17, 2021

*Insert Catchy Title Here*

            The Guilty, directed by Antoine Fuqua, was digitally released on Netflix on October 1, 2021. The Guilty is a remake of a 2018 Danish film of the same name and stars Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal plays Joe Baylor, an LAPD officer who’s been demoted following an on-duty incident. While Baylor awaits trial, he’s working as an operator in a 911 call center. The film follows his overnight shift the night before his trial is set to begin. During his shift, Joe receives a call from a woman named Emily, who tells him she’s been kidnapped. However, she’s able to provide little information before she’s forced to hang up and as such, California Highway Patrol is unable to locate her.

In his frustration, Joe becomes obsessed with trying to locate Emily, breaking multiple protocols to do so. Joe speaks to Emily’s daughter, Abby, and learns that Emily left with Abby’s father, Henry, who had a knife. Abby tells Joe that she and her infant brother, Oliver, have been left home alone. Now concerned for the safety of the young children andfor Emily, Joe spirals further into desperation. He sends officers to Emily’s house, where they find baby Oliver has been stabbed. Joe believes Henry killed the baby and kidnapped Emily.

The twist at the end is that Emily wasn’t kidnapped at all. She has a history of mental illness and has been hospitalized multiple times. When the movie takes place, she’s been off her meds because she’s unable to afford them. She stabbed Oliver during a psychotic episode after having delusions about him having “snakes in his stomach” that needed to be “taken out”. Henry was trying to get Emily to a psychiatric hospital for treatment. He prioritized this over his children, believing his son was already dead and feeling that if he focused on finding Abby a place to stay, Emily would try to harm herself. Henry didn’t call 911 because Emily needs treatment, not jail.

Joe only learns this after encouraging Emily to escape. Emily calls Joe again, this time from an overpass above the freeway. To talk her down, Joe confesses to his own crimes. It’s now we learn that 8 months prior, Joe murdered a 19-year-old while on duty. By admitting his guilt to not only Emily, but to himself, Joe’s able to save her. After he finds out Emily is safe, and Oliver is alive in the ICU, Joe calls his friend, who’s testifying on his behalf in a few hours, and tells him to forget the story they planned and to tell the truth. Joe pleads guilty to manslaughter at his trial. By admitting what he’s done and facing the consequences of his actions, Joe gets relief from his all-consuming guilt.

As the film opens, we see shots of California burning, leading the audience to believe the California wildfires will be an important plot point. But the topic ends up not being all that important past the first few minutes. While it makes for an interesting opening shot, in the context of the entire film it doesn’t really make sense.

The entirety of the film, save for one scene early on, being shot within the same three rooms in the same call center aid well in creating tension, as does the lack of background music, and minimal cuts between scenes. It feels like you’re watching this story play out in real time. At the end of the film, we see we’ve witnessed Joe’s entire night on duty, but because there are so few cuts in the film it feels as though you’ve watched one, continuous hour and a half.

The entire film takes place in three rooms, all in the same call center. There’s the main floor where Joe sits with other operators, the private room he moves to when he decides he’s going to break protocol for the case, and the bathroom where he has his asthma attacks. We never see the other central characters, only Joe’s coworkers and supervisor, who he clearly doesn’t get along with. We only hear the other character’s voices. Not being able to put faces to names puts the audience in the same desperate mindset as Joe.

Throughout his interactions with Emily and regarding her case, there’s minimal background music. At times, this is almost unbearable because there’s nothing to distract from the horror unfolding and the psychological torment the film is putting its audience through.

There’s no clear protagonist/antagonist theme. At various times it seems the antagonist is Henry, Emily, or even Joe. But the film paints all three in a sympathetic light. The film asks us to feel for the characters and to be angry with them at different times.

After learning first that Emily is the one who hurt her baby and the American healthcare system ultimately led her to it, we see this really clearly. First, all our anger at Henry disappears and clearly Emily is just ‘insane”. But then as we hear Henry tell Joe about it, and when Emily talks to Joe from the overpass, we sympathize with this family and this woman who is very obviously sick and in need of care she might be unable to get. While Henry and Emily receive very clear and specific periods where you’re supposed to feel angry towards them and when you’re supposed to sympathize with them, for Joe, it’s not so clear.

Joe’s characterization aids in the portrayal of his chaotic internal struggle. It’s clear throughout the film that he’s struggling, though it isn’t clear with what until the end. Even after we figure out he’s going on trial, we don’t learn what for until the end of the film. He’s frustrated having to work as an operator, and this is made evident in his calls. He’s abrasive and rude to callers and becomes easily frustrated with people in distress for being unable to communicate their needs effectively. Joe’s character is juxtaposed at various points. His demeanor in the call with Abby illustrates a soft side, but this disappears when he’s trying to have officers sent to Henry’s house. By the end, when he’s supposed to have “redeemed himself”, the audience has only been made aware of his crimes very recently. Given that Joe murdered a teenager for reasons that don’t seem all that cut and dry, it isn’t easy to give him the sympathy you feel you’re meant to. Joe’s a hard main character to engage with, and it seems the intention is to have the audience feel frustrated with him as a character.

Many are critical of this film for not being as good as the original version released in 2018. They feel it is just another American remake that falls short of the excellence of the original foreign film. However, having not seen the original version, I am unable to comment on this point, but I do think it’s worth noting.

 

Conclusion (to be expanded later)

Is the movie worth watching? Yes, I hope it’s clear why I think that

 

Stills and quotes (to be inserted later)

To illustrate Joe’s abrasive and angry nature

Caller (after admitting to taking drugs): I can’t breathe, and I’m f***ing scared

Joe: I understand, but it’s you own fault, isn’t it?

 

Joe: What, am I not supposed to talk in here either?

Supervisor: No, in here is fine. You could do something about your attitude though

 

Joe: Just f***ing find a car and block the freeway! Come on!

 

To illustrate that Joe is capable of being somewhat nice

Joe: Okay I have to put you on hold

Emily: No, no

Joe: I have to. Just hold the line, Emily. Just act like you’re comforting your child, okay? Come on, Emily.

Emily: Don’t be upset, I’ll be home soon.

Joe: Good, good, I’ll be right back

 

Joe: Abby, Abby don’t cry. Abby, everything’s gonna be alright, okay?

*works cited needed*