A suspended police officer assigned to dispatcher duty is caught in a web of intrigue in this pulsating Danish thriller, jam-packed with mystery and suspense despite never leaving a cramped emergency call centre.
A claustrophobic thriller that finds fascinating ways to spiritually transcend its confines.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2018
The Guilty 2018
Den skyldige
This innovative debut from Danish filmmaker Gustav Möller has racked up audience awards from the Sundance and Rotterdam film festivals, delivering a tension-packed crime drama without ever leaving the claustrophobic confines of an emergency call centre.
Police officer Asger Holm has been suspended from active duty and assigned to a desk job as an emergency dispatcher while he awaits an upcoming court case that could have serious ramifications for his future. A frustratingly mundane shift dealing with abusive drunks and ripped-off johns is suddenly upended when he receives a panicked call from an abducted woman, who is soon cut off. With the clock ticking, the short-fused Asger decides to ignore bureaucratic processes and take matters into his own hands. Piecing together clues with little more than a phone and a headset at his disposal, the more he finds out the more the mystery deepens. Are things really as they seem? — MM
“A twisty crime thriller that’s every bit as pulse-pounding and involving as its action-oriented, adrenaline-soaked counterparts… Gustav Möller masterfully ratchets up tension without the benefit of the usual visual aids, forcing viewers to dust off their imaginations and put them to work with chillingly effective results.” — Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter