Reuniting after the disappointing boxing film Southpaw, Jake Gyllenhaal and director Antoine Fuqua have landed their latest film, The Guilty, at Netflix. Written by True Detective creator (and co-writer of Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven) Nic Pizzolatto, the movie follows Gyllenhaal’s 911 dispatcher on a desperate mission to save a caller.
The first trailer for the film looks to be mostly be confined to the office, told through phone calls, records on computer screens and Gyllenhaal’s own increasingly invested character. It’s an intriguing premise with plenty of opportunity for twists and turns, shown in reverse during the Southbound segment “The Accident.” Limiting what we know about the narrative is a gamble for building suspense, but there are few actors to leave it up to better than Gyllenhaal—something he’s already doing a great job selling in the first footage.
Take a look:
While there’s plenty of potential for this assuredly rug-pulling affair to go down some misguided paths, it’d be exciting to see Fuqua back to the kind of character work in an intense, researched professional environment that made Training Day so powerful. And if it gives Pizzolatto a chance to work some heady crime magic, that’s all the better.
The Guilty hits select theaters on September 24 before coming to Netflix on October 1.