Jake Gyllenhaal Thriller Becomes #1 On Netflix

CREDIT: Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times

Jake Gyllenhaal's latest film The Guilty, has climbed the charts of Netflix, reaching the number one spot.

The film is a remake of a 2018 Danish film by the same name. It showcases one room over the period of one night. 

Jake Gyllenhaal is the lead character, Joe Baylor and is one of the FEW characters seen throughout the entirety of the film.

Joe is a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department who was demoted to desk duty. He becomes the assigned person to handle the call centre during a night with uncontrolled wildfires that are spreading through Hollywood Hills.

He tries his best to help from his situation, but fails to disguise his disgust for being stuck in the job he's in.

Things change when he receives a call from Emily (Riley Keough), a girl who has been abducted and is limited to what she can say as to not alarm her captor. During many phone calls, he tries to help as best he can as her situation keeps getting more complicated and unpredictable.

There then becomes a highly climatic audible pause. 

CREDIT: AP

Jake acquired the rights to the Danish film through his production company, Nine Stories Productions in December 2018. 

He partnered with Bold Films to start producing an American version of the film. In September 2020, he announced the team up with director Antoine Fuqua and Netflix would become the sole distributor.

The casting for the movie was finalised in November 2020, and included stars such as Ethan Hawke (Sgt. Bill Miller), and Bill Burr (Nightclub Caller). It also starred some newcomers such as Christina Vidal (Sgt. Denise Wade), and Adrian Martinez (Manny).

COVID-19 did put a halt on the production as expected. In order to keep the schedule on track, the team introduced some unorthodox and ingenious techniques. Antoine directed Jake and the rest of the cast out of a van that had cameras connected to set. He also did this over the span of 11 days.

The determination did indeed pay off as not only is the film number one on Netflix, it is also sitting at a 71% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Amon Warmann praised Jake's performance saying, "He flexes all his his considerable acting muscles in this taut, tense thriller. ne of the better remakes you'll see."

The Australian's David Stratton also said, "All of it is held together by Gyllenhaal's powerful performance."

CREDIT: Christian MacDonald

Metacritic scores for the film on Rotten Tomatoes are sitting at a 63%. Some reviews recommend the film, others are saying it doesn't live up to the original.

Entertainment said, "...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."

The overall thought though is that the film is solid and is enhanced by Gyllenhaal's performance.

Jake Gyllenhaal is known all over Hollywood for his roles in films such as, October Sky (1999), Donnie Darko (2001), The Day After Tomorrow (2005), Zodiac (2007), and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).

He was born into the industry with his dad Stephen Gyllenhaal an actor, his mother Naomi Foner a screenwriter, and his sister Maggie Gyllenhaal also an actress.

As well as being an accomplished actor, he is also an activist and philanthropist. He has recently expressed his dedication to advocating for women's rights and equality for women employed within the entertainment industry.

He has very publicly expressed his belief that women are superior to men and the world's view should reflect that.