The Guilty
Netflix | Release Date: September 24, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
15
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyOct 1, 2021
It was Gyllenhaal, here in a producer role, who initially bought the rights to Gustav Möller’s Danish film. You could call this a vanity project, but at least his presence adds a dose of originality to this carbon copy remake. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneK. Austin CollinsSep 28, 2021
Even with its familiar visual and dramatic approach — the extent to which we are firmly, subjectively pushed into Joseph’s world and made to tumble around for a while amid his unpredictable behaviors — the movie packs an odd little punch. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 10, 2021
A claustrophobic thriller about a disgraced cop trying to undo his past mistakes over the course of one supremely stressful night, The Guilty boasts a clever close-quarters conceit that ends up feeling more like an actorly exercise than a gripping human drama. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 10, 2021
Gyllenhaal’s impressive, but The Guilty almost certainly would have been more effective if he’d dialed down the intensity a bit. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 10, 2021
Perhaps to overcompensate for the lack of conventionally opened-out dramatic action, there is some big closeup acting from Gyllenhaal, but it’s a well-made and watchable picture of a man in the secular confessional box, a sinner forced to occupy the place of a priest. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattSep 13, 2021
Guilty, for all its wild-eyed excess, does find some blunt-force propulsion for a while, particularly if you're coming to it new. But the movie seems to mistake the taut minimalism of the original for something that needs to be goosed and adrenalized, a thriller on constant defibrillator. Read full review
56
CNETRichard TrenholmOct 8, 2021
Based on a nerve-shredding Danish thriller, this US remake loses something in the translation. Read full review
55
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaSep 10, 2021
As a showcase for Gyllenhaal's talents, The Guilty is passable, but that's just not enough. Read full review
50
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiSep 30, 2021
Without offering anything particularly interesting or nuanced, The Guilty still has enough to keep audiences engaged and on the edge of their seats. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleSep 29, 2021
Ultimately, The Guilty is a worthwhile remake, even if it fails to perfectly calibrate performance and production. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn HornadaySep 28, 2021
For its eventual lurid machinations and hyped-up emotionalism, the film winds up being a handsomely efficient one-man show. Like the man Gyllenhaal so convincingly embodies, it gets the job done, even if it inevitably goes over the top. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSep 27, 2021
The Guilty wants to make a statement about a man who’s trying to save himself through saving others, but the message is delivered with all the subtlety of a frantic 911 call. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneySep 27, 2021
The Guilty gets less and less plausible, not least of all in how neatly it ties together various plot elements. For its first 40 minutes or so, the movie shows how much Gyllenhaal and Fuqua can do with little. Confinement becomes a dramatic launching pad. Then melodrama kicks in, and what had been a gripping offbeat thriller becomes a morality tale (including a truly shameless plot twist). Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJake ColeSep 13, 2021
This is an engaging, no-frills entertainment that still fails to justify its reason for being. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 30, 2021
While Gyllenhaal thrusts himself into the role with energy, you can sense his awareness that his acting has to carry the whole shebang, like a chef in the kitchen doing every last job. He’s entertaining, but guilty, like The Guilty, of throwing nuance in the bin. Read full review
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