'The Guilty' ('Den skyldige') (15)

*****

DVD Release/Available to stream

The day before the court date that will release him from emergency call centre duty, Asger Holm answers the phone to a woman who has been abducted.

When was the last time you saw a film that played out in just one setting? And with a run time below an hour and a half? Danish film The Guilty (or 'Den skyldige' to give the original title) accomplishes both. Opening with a routine scene of a police officer answering the phones on the late shift, the plot soon escalates into a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat thriller that packs an emotional punch far beyond the reach of numerous 'big budget' releases. With twists, turns and shocking revelations aplenty, The Guilty perfectly demonstrates that you don't need to have larger-than-life special effects or A-list actors to make a good film - just an intelligent, expertly-written script.

Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren) is introduced to us as a disgruntled police officer with a very laissez faire attitude. In the opening moments, he dismisses a sex worker as a 'whore' and scoffs at a man's robbery. A short conversation with his commanding officer reveals that he is due in court tomorrow. We've already made up our mind as to what kind of a man he is - and when he answers the phone to a terrified woman kidnapped by her ex-husband, both he and the viewer instantly assume what the situation is. However, with each disturbing revelation, our assumptions are brutally quashed. Sitting, for the majority of the film at least, alone, Asger's shattered interpretation of the scenario mirrors our own shock, instantly triggering a reflective mood upon how we judge situations.

Written and directed by Gustav Moller (Emil Nygaard Albertsen also shares screenwriting credits), The Guilty evokes the memory of Steven Knight's Locke, where a man's life unravels via a series of phone calls. However, whereas the aforementioned film left me underwhelmed and frustrated, The Guilty masterfully engages from start to finish. It's a film with a message to ponder and a script at which to marvel.

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