The Guilty
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: October 19, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
83
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeNov 8, 2018
The film’s narrow visual focus – much of the drama plays out in the face of police officer Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren) – accentuates the crackling cleverness of a screenplay that allows us to unravel a mystery in real time. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyOct 23, 2018
The Guilty is an absolute workout that pulls the rug out from under you just when you think you have it figured out. The last ten minutes will keep you rattled long after you’ve left the theater. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerOct 19, 2018
Despite, or perhaps because of, these constraints, it’s one of the most cinematically alive movies of the year. Read full review
90
The New YorkerAnthony LaneOct 22, 2018
The Guilty is smartly constructed and tautened with regular twists, but, if it were merely clever, it wouldn’t test your nerves as it does. Its view of human error is rarely less than abrasive, and most of the adult characters, visible and invisible, are enmeshed in a hell of good intentions. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranOct 18, 2018
If the setting of The Guilty couldn’t be simpler, its immaculate execution by first-time director Gustav Möller couldn’t be more gripping and involving. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisOct 18, 2018
Unfolding in real time, this immediately involving story bends and turns in surprising, sometimes horrifying ways. Enriched by Oskar Skriver’s marvelous sound editing, which takes us from a speeding van to a bloodcurdling crime scene with equal authenticity, the movie smoothly blends police procedural with character study. Read full review
89
The VergeBryan Bishop
Thanks to Möller’s staging, a script full of twists, and a compelling performance from lead actor Jakob Cedergren, it’s a riveting, nerve-racking surprise — and it has a few things to say about how even the best intentions can lead to disturbing abuses of power. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoOct 19, 2018
A brilliant genre exercise, a cinematic study in tension, sound design, and how to make a thrilling movie with a limited tool box. The film’s own restrictions actually amplify the tension, forcing us into the confined space of its protagonist. Read full review
80
The GuardianCath ClarkeNov 8, 2018
Miraculously, Möller turns a handful of phone conversations into a nerve shredder. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid ParkinsonOct 29, 2018
Echoes of Dog Day Afternoon and Locke reverberate around this claustrophobic thriller, which is tautly plotted, precisely paced and grippingly played by Jakob Cedergren and his unseen co-stars. Read full review
80
TheWrapJames GreenbergOct 20, 2018
The film is propelled by our curiosity to see what happens more than a deep involvement with the fate of these people. But what really holds your attention is the look on Asger’s face, shot from every conceivable angle. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
Despite focusing entirely on a single individual speaking into a headset in a Danish emergency call center, The Guilty nevertheless emerges as a twisty crime thriller that’s every bit as pulse-pounding and involving as its action-oriented, adrenaline-soaked counterparts. Read full review
80
Screen DailyFionnuala Halligan
With a terse 85-minute running time, The Guilty illustrates Möller’s confidence with the craft of film-making. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy Lodge
Gustav Möller’s short, taut debut feature never leaves the claustrophobic confines of the call center, but builds a vivid aural suspense narrative through the receiver, all while incrementally unboxing the visible protagonist’s own frail mental state. Read full review
80
Village VoiceBilge Ebiri
The Guilty beautifully demonstrates how people can act with absolute conviction even when they don’t have the full picture of a situation, and the monstrousness this can in turn lead to. And if that doesn’t speak to our time, then I don’t know what does. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerOct 18, 2018
Without ever feeling stagy or theatrical, The Guilty is an exquisite reminder that all you need is four walls and a great performance. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzOct 19, 2018
Cedergren excels at balancing Asger’s cynical cool with his desire to help (or perhaps simply help himself), and the entire endeavour will leave you with a new-found respect for 911 operators. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenOct 17, 2018
In this, his feature directorial debut, Möller makes a whole lot out of very little: a whole lot of dramatic forcefulness out of the most simple and basic of elements, a solitary man struggling to do the right thing. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyOct 16, 2018
It might not be the kind of movie that anyone needs to see twice, but its variations on the classic building blocks of suspense implicate our own guesswork in interesting ways. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonOct 15, 2018
The Guilty is a taut chamber thriller dominated by the flinty yet highly emotive visage of actor Jakob Cedergren. Read full review
75
The Film StageJohn Fink
Despite suffering from a few tropes and a third act that starts to slowly come off the rails as sympathies change, The Guilty is a riveting mystery creating a race against time that includes false leads, family drama, and the search for a van somewhere within a specific cell tower. Read full review
75
The PlaylistKimber Myers
Möller keeps a sense of immediacy and tension throughout, despite never actually showing the cause of Asger’s worry and dread – and our own. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneDavid FearOct 18, 2018
The Guilty is many things, not all of which work 100-percent of the time. But it does succeed as one hell of a radio play with benefits, letting a literal call-and-response crime procedural play out in real time. Read full review
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