Dispatch We Need Backup

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By Tom Pacak

“The Guilty” (Danish: Den skyldige) opened up at the Sundance Film Festival last year. It was a film that gained critical acclaim but kind of fell under the radar. The film was selected as the Danish entry for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. Now after 10 months, “The Guilty” is finally released. “The Guilty” is a taut thriller that leaves you at the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next.

“The Guilty” opens up with Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren) an alarm dispatcher and former police officer answering emergency phone calls. He’s divorced and continually speaks to his partner about an upcoming trial happening tomorrow. The film’s use of the police station as the only setting is an advantage, as the audience has to rely on sound design to hear the intensity of the 911 calls Asger receives. He gets one from a drug addict and someone who was mugged. Asger is obliviously used to taking these calls. He’s calm and collected while answering and tries to get to the bottom of the problem. But he’s also kind of a jerk to the people he’s helping. He gets snippy at some of the people who obliviously need his help and guidance. This is supposed to show that Asger has a lot of stress in his life.

Then Asger gets the call that changes his life forever. He receives a call from a woman; Iben (Jessica Dinnage) she doesn’t really make a lot of sense but claims her husband kidnapped her. She also seems to have no idea what happened to her young boy who’s at home with her scared daughter. This is where the film kicks into gear and we really get to see the intensity of the over-the-phone calls. We hear in the background Iben getting abused by her husband and the scared daughter getting instructions from Asger on what to do. Even though we don’t see the actions taking place, our imagination lets us see the actions taking place in our heads.

The film also succeeds in letting us see the world of an imperfect man Asger. He’s clearly a man who’s made a lot of mistakes in his life; he has a trial coming up he may be lying about key details, he’s arrogant to other callers, and even tells a caller to screw off while taking care of Iben. In the end, it’s his mistakes that help him get through the dramatic situation. The film makes you question whether Asger would be able to relate to Iben if he didn’t have his own skeletons in his closet.  How would any other dispatcher react to this situation? Who they succeed or fail? Does someone have to make a lot of mistakes in order to save the life of a damaged person? It shows that Asger’s mistakes not only made him human but in the end, helped defuse a terrible situation.

It’s rare that we get movies like “The Guilty.” There are several foreign films coming out this fall that look like success stories “Roma,” “Burning,” and “Shoplifters.” All of those films have gained critical acclaim and Oscar buzz. Let’s hope “The Guilty” gets that same kind of love.

Note: Now Playing in Theaters and On Demand


Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars

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