The Call

"There are 188 million 911 calls a year. This one made it personal."

2013 1h 36m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 3,148

CrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Jordan Turner is an experienced 911 operator but when she makes an error in judgment and a call ends badly, Jordan is rattled and unsure if she can continue. But when teenager Casey Welson is abducted in the back of a man's car and calls 911, Jordan is the one called upon to use all of her experience, insights and quick thinking to help Casey escape, and not just to save her, but to make sure the man is brought to justice.

“There are 188 million 911 calls a year. This one made it personal.”

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Cast

Halle Berry
Jordan Turner
Abigail Breslin
Casey Welson
Morris Chestnut
Officer Paul Phillips
Michael Eklund
Michael Foster
David Otunga
Officer Jake Devans
Michael Imperioli
Alan Denado
Justina Machado
Rachel
José Zúñiga
Marco

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Brad Anderson
Writers: Richard D'Ovidio, Richard D'Ovidio, Nicole D'Ovidio
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 13 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Brad Anderson, shot by Thomas Yatsko. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Debney. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Avi Youabian shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin and Morris Chestnut carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "There are 188 million 911 calls a year. This one made it personal.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1911644 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Brad Anderson directs. Thomas Yatsko behind the camera. John Debney scores. Avi Youabian cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 5.3× over at the box office.
2Released 13 years ago.
3Directed by Brad Anderson, shot by Thomas Yatsko. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by John Debney. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Avi Youabian shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin and Morris Chestnut carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "There are 188 million 911 calls a year. This one made it personal.".
8IMDB entry: tt1911644 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 18 themes, including "underground", "gas station", "kidnapping", "psychopath".
10Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Thomas Yatsko
Original score: John Debney
Editing: Avi Youabian
Production design: Franco-Giacomo Carbone
Costume design: Magali Guidasci
Makeup / hair: Dean Jones
Sound: Kris Fenske
Stunt coordinator: Dennis McCarthy
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $13,000,000
Box office: $68,572,378
Return: 527% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Call (2013)

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Brad Anderson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-11-16
★ 6/10
It’s Done! Directed by Brad Anderson and starring Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin, The Call is one of those infuriating thriller movies that destroys all its hard work with a lame last quarter. The plot is based around a 911 Emergency Call Centre, where Berry works but suffers a breakdown of sorts when an error she makes costs the life of a young girl being stalked by a maniac. Some time later and Breslin is abducted by a whacko and locked in the trunk of his car, which brings Berry back into dutiful action. Can she save the girl this time? For the most part it’s a sturdy thriller, it’s not breaking new ground or anything, but it has some good ideas and the scenes of Breslin and Berry talking on the phone are well crafted and performed. So far so tightly wound by Anderson. But there’s a point in the movie where you know exactly what is going to happen for the remainder of film. Logic, suspense and credibility is quickly replaced by a roll call of popcorn munching conventions clearly aimed at pleasing the undemanding multiplex goers. The police are buffoons but thankfully Berry, a phone operator, can do their job for them. Though this comes at a cost to Berry as well. Where earlier there was an actress playing with conviction an interesting and emotionally confused character, now she is reduced to doing the sort of dumb things that happen in laughably bad scream queen movies. Or not as the case may be in one colossal plot hole that is badly attempted to be explained away by the makers! Such a shame, because both Berry and Breslin turn in good thriller performances, and Michael Eklund is suitably nuts as the serial killer with on-going issues. But they are all better than this screenplay, and deserve better, it feels compromised after such a good start, while Anderson is clearly capable of greater things given he has Session 9, The Machinist and Transsiberian on his CV. The Call is cautiously recommended to those after a better than average thriller time waster. The lead actors are good value, the direction clean, the premise safe and the production design for the nutter’s lair suitably grotty. If only the writer and the suited financial backers could have been in sync and stayed true to the earlier tone of the pic, then this would have been a bigger hit. 6/10

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