‘The Guilty’ Ending, Explained: Jake Gyllenhaal’s Netflix Thriller Has a Dark Twist

The Guilty on Netflix has what seems to be a straightforward premise: Jake Gyllenhaal plays a 911 operator who gets a call from a woman who has been abducted. The entire plot of the movie takes place over the phone, from Gyllenhaal’s point of view, which means that The Guilty is very nearly 90 uninterrupted minutes of Jake Gyllenhaal’s face.

But despite the simple set-up, The Guilty plot comes with a few twists and turns that might surprise you. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, with a screenplay from Nic Pizzolatto, the thriller is an English-language remake of the critically-acclaimed 2018 Danish film of the same name. Fuqua—who has directed films like Training Day, The Magnificent Seven remake, and Olympus Has Fallen—manages to maintain the tension almost entirely through phone calls, which is no small feat.

It helps to have good voice actors like Ethan Hawke, Riley Keough, Eli Goree, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Paul Dano, and Peter Sarsgaard. But because the movie is so auditory, you might find yourself confused if you’re not paying attention. Don’t worry, because Decider is here to help. Read on for The Guilty plot summary and The Guilty ending explained.

WHAT IS THE GUILTY PLOT?

Joe Baylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a quick-tempered cop who was recently demoted to take calls as a 911 operator instead. It’s not clear why he’s not in the field, but, supposedly, he will be back to his regular cop duties soon. What is clear is that Joe can’t wait to get back in the action. Fielding 911 calls from freaked-out stoners and sleazy businessmen is clearly not his idea of a fulfilling career.

But then Joe receives a call that catches his interest. At first, it’s not clear why the woman on the other end of the line—Emily, voiced by Riley Keough, though we never see her face—is calling. She calls the operator “Sweetie,” as if she was talking to her child. Joe very nearly hangs up on her, thinking perhaps the woman dialed a wrong number, or is drunk. But when Emily mentions that she’s out for a drive, Joe asks Emily if she’s been abducted. She says yes.

Using only yes or no questions, Joe figures out which highway Emily is on, that she’s in a white van, and that her captor is her husband—but she gives away too much in front of him, and has to hang up. Joe is frantic to save her, but the only lead he has is Emily’s address and home phone number. (Apparently, this information shows up when you call 911.) Using this, Joe speaks to Emily’s six-year-old daughter Abby, who tells him that her baby brother Ollie is sleeping in the other room and that she’s not supposed to open the door.

Joe convinces one of his police buddies to check up on Emily’s daughter. When the police go to check on baby Ollie, they discover he has been horribly injured. Joe assumes that Emily’s husband killed the baby, kidnapped Emily, and fled.

We also start to learn more about Joe. He has a trial tomorrow, and it seems one of his friends is prepared to lie on his behalf. Eventually, Joe gets Emily back on the phone and he talks into hitting her husband with a brick in the head and fleeing. Just before she does it, Emily starts talking about “the snakes in Oliver’s stomach.” Joe realizes Emily was the one who mutilated the baby and discovers that she did a stint in a psychiatric treatment center. Oops!

WHAT IS THE GUILTY ENDING EXPLAINED?

Joe realizes that Emily is the guilty one rather than her husband Henry. Joe speaks to Henry, who sobs on the phone that they ran out of money for Emily’s medication. When Emily seemingly killed Oliver the baby, he panicked and drove her away. “She has no idea what she’s done,” he sobs. “She just sick. I wanted to help her.”

Joe gets Emily back on the phone, and she is standing on a tall overpass, in danger of falling or jumping. Joe talks a panicked, confused Emily down from the ledge by telling her that he killed a 19-year-old boy. “I wanted to punish him because I was angry. He hurt someone,” Joe says. “I can’t kill you too, Emily.” Emily doesn’t jump, and the police are able to get to her in time.

Joe learns that Oliver is actually still alive and in the ICU, meaning he was able to save the baby. Joe calls his friend who was going to testify on his behalf at the trial, and tells him not to lie. “Just tell them the truth.” Even though it means he’ll go to prison, Joe decides it’s the right thing to do.

Joe makes one last phone call to the journalist who had been nagging Joe all day to tell his side of the story—presumably to grant her an interview. As the movie ends, we hear soundbites of journalists declaring that LAPD detective Joe Baylor pled guilty to manslaughter.

And there you have it! Joe was the guilty one all along.

Watch The Guilty on Netflix