The caller’s name, Iben Østergård, flashes on the call handler's screen, a detail obtained from the mobile number record.

The North Zealand dispatcher tells him this is not enough information, and a licence plate number and specific location are required.

Asger talks to an officer in the North Zealand patrol car which pulls over a light-coloured van but lets it go when no woman is found inside.

Becoming frustrated as he gets drawn into the urgency of the situation, Asger looks up information about Iben Østergård and finds a home telephone number, calling it.

Following this, Asger calls North Zealand to dispatch police assistance at the house to check on Mathilde and Oliver.

Devastated, Asger calls Rashid, his off-duty police colleague, urging him to go and break into Michael's house for any clues that might hint at his destination.

Asger comes to the realization that a distraught Michael, fully aware of Iben's mental state and having admitted his lost faith in the authorities' understanding, was attempting to take her to the psychiatric hospital because she had unknowingly caused their son's death.

After a period of time, Asger receives another call from Iben, who, having come to the realization that she has killed her son, is on the brink of jumping off a bridge.

Minutes later, Asger receives a call from the North Zealand police, who confirm they have Iben and commend him on his work.

The genesis of the film was a YouTube clip of a kidnapped woman calling an emergency dispatcher while her kidnapper sat nearby.

I loved that contrast of these cops dealing with life and death and they're sitting in this boring, kind of dirty room.

"[9] Confining the film to a police dispatch center helped limit the budget to a frugal €500,000 (US$570,671) while forcing the filmmakers to work more creatively.

[1] Möller and his director of photography, Jasper Spanning, divided the script into eight segments, changing the camera lenses and cinematic approach for each.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Sleek, well-acted, and intelligently crafted, The Guilty is a high-concept thriller that wrings maximum impact out of a handful of basic—and effective—ingredients.

[12] After The Guilty's debut, Möller received requests for remake rights from around the world, but declined personal involvement in any of them, preferring instead to work on new projects.