The First Trailer For Netflix's The Guilty Teases One Intense Ride
Thanks to movies like "Nightcrawler" and "Nocturnal Animals," we know that Jake Gyllenhaal is no stranger to a slick thriller. He now appears poised to deliver another dose of nail-biting suspense with the upcoming Netflix original film "The Guilty."
A remake of a Danish film of the same name, "The Guilty" sees Gyllenhaal playing a 911 operator named Joe who gets wound up in an intense case when he fields a call from a terrified woman who has been kidnapped. When the police aren't able to track down the frantic caller with the information Joe was able to get from her, he takes matters into his own hands. Like all the best thrillers, though, nothing is quite what it seems, and Joe soon finds himself in way over his head.
"The Guilty" was directed by Antoine Fuqua (who took filming during COVID-19 very seriously), best known for movies like "Training Day," "Olympus Has Fallen," and "The Equalizer." He's certainly no stranger to delivering on white-knuckle action and suspense, and neither is the film's screenwriter, Nic Pizzolatto, the creator of "True Detective."
With that amount of pedigree, "The Guilty" is shaping up to be a potential barnburner. Here's what we can glean from the trailer.
The trailer for The Guilty is bracing and full of intrigue
The trailer for "The Guilty" takes an intriguing minimalist approach. We get the set up for the action — Joe receiving a call from a woman who is in the car with her kidnapper and unable to give him enough specific details about who or where she is for Joe to send help her way — all of which happens over the phone. In fact, almost the entirety of the trailer takes place in the 911 call center. Whether that reflects the vibe of the movie itself or if it's just the trailer's way of not giving too much away remains to be seen.
We suspect the latter is more likely, as the trailer does tease something significant for viewers. Partway through, text appears on screen that reads, "There's more to the story ... than meets the eye." Considering we don't actually know much about the story, it's hard to say exactly what twists might be in store, but we can safely assume that this won't be as simple as Joe rushing off to save the day.
If you've seen the Danish version, you might already have an idea of what's going on. But then again, we can't say for sure how faithful this adaptation will be. Something to note is that the Danish original has an impressive 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so if the US remake follows in its footsteps, we should be in for quite an enjoyable thrill ride.
"The Guilty" premieres in select theaters on September 24 and on Netflix on October 1.