The Guilty: Release date, trailer, cast for Jake Gyllenhaal's Netflix thriller

Directed by Training Day's Antoine Fuqua and written by True Detective's Nic Pizzolatto, there's plenty of talent both behind and in front of the camera - here's everything you need to know about Netflix's single location thriller The Guilty.

The Guilty movie release date

The Guilty will be released on Netflix on Friday 1st October 2021.

The film will first have its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on 11th September, and will also have a limited cinema release on 24th September.

Jake Gyllenhaal first acquired the rights to remake the guilty back in 2018, with Netflix picking up the project in September 2020. The cast was confirmed by November 2020, when filming took place in Los Angeles.

The Guilty trailer

Leaning into the film's premise of using audio alone to convey dangerous situations, the first teaser released in August 2021 featured no film footage at all - and is all the more intense for it.

The full-length trailer finally added video footage to the dialogue from the first teaser, and neatly outlines the premise - as well as conveying the frustration of trying to help someone through a phone call alone, with no idea who the caller is or where they are.

The Guilty cast

As hinted at in the trailer, The Guilty looks to be a mostly one-man show following Jake Gyllenhaal's Joe Baylor during a particularly stressful day working as an emergency call operator. Gyllenhaal also produced the film under his Nine Stories Production Banner.

However, a number of other actors have been confirmed to star in the film in undisclosed roles - though with the movie taking place in a call centre, it's possible many of them will appear in voice only.

Ethan Hawke will be re-teaming with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua for this film, while The Devil All The Time's Riley Keough will also appear in an unknown role.

Paul Dano (The Batman), Peter Sarsgaard (Jarhead) and Bill Burr (The Mandalorian) also star.

Along with Jake Gyllenhaal, there are some thriller veterans behind the scenes also - director Antoine Fuqua previously worked with Gyllenhaal on Southpaw, while the film was written by True Detective scribe Nick Pizzolatto.

What is The Guilty about?

Crime thriller The Guilty is a remake of the award-winning 2018 Danish film of the same name, and looks to stay true to the premise of the original film.

The Netflix movie follows police detective Joe Bayler (Gyllenhaal) who has recently been demoted to emergency call operator duty, and is soon harried and overwhelmed by the number of unnecessary calls he receives.

However one day he gets a call from a terrified woman named Emily who claims to have been abducted, before a mysterious man forces her to hang up. With only limited information and time running out, Joe scrambles to save her through phone communication alone - but it soon becomes clear that nothing is quite what it seems.

Much like the original film which had to get creative on a low budget, The Guilty looks to be set almost entirely within one location over the course of a single day, making this thriller about as claustrophobic as they get. Instead the focus will be on using audio to convey the kidnap situation, with the audience's mental picture of events changing as new information is revealed.

Gyllenhaal serving as a moderator during Q&As while the 2018 film was on the festival circuit, where it won several awards including the Sundance Audience Award and Grand Jury prize.

The Guilty will be released on Netflix on Friday 1st October 2021. If you’re looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide or visit our dedicated Movies hub.