“911 What’s your emergency?” When picking up a call as a call operator for the police, you never know what you’re going to get. It can be anything from ‘Where is the nearest Starbucks?’ to ‘My car just got robbed, help.’ You could even get a call that goes something like this, I was kidnapped and thrown into the back of a car. This is exactly what the film, “The Call”, directed by Brad Anderson in 2013, is about. 

Jordan, the call operator for the police, was forced by human nature to take over a call previously handled by another call operator. When seeing the woman in distress over the nature of the call Jordan knew exactly what to do. The call in question was made by a girl named Casey Welson on a disposable phone, meaning the call could not be tracked to give the location of the caller. Casey was a young teenager who had just been kidnapped and put in the back of a car. Jordan worked with Casey, getting her calmed down enough to figure out how to get her found, alive. Both worked as a team to make sure Casey was known not only to cops but to others driving around the area. They did so by breaking out a taillight and having Casey wave her arm out to get the attention of another driver, leaving a trail of white paint and crying for help when stopped at a gas station. Jordan stayed on the call with Casey to figure out the name of the man that had kidnapped her with a detailed description of both the car, himself, and the second car. With a little help from police at a crime scene left by the same man in the middle of the kidnapping, they were able to identify the suspect as Michael Foster. A man in his mid 30’s with a criminal record for burning down his own family home when he was just a kid. Going to Michael’s home, the police were able to get a general idea of where Michael might have taken Casey. When Michael found the phone and destroyed it, Jordan was able to take matters into her own hands and find Casey herself while the police closed off the area, stumped and unable to find Casey on their own. When Jordan was able to find the secret hiding place in a grass field, she learned Michael’s secret and why he had kidnapped Casey. Jordan was able to connect Michael to many other accounts of missing people, including one of a girl Jordan had gotten a call from at the beginning of the movie, which had made her temporarily quit taking calls after the girl was found dead. Through some struggle with Jordan and Casey working together in person to fight Michael, they were able to escape, leaving Michael where he would never be found. 

The film did well at showing all sides of the true crime story. It represented each character and their roles within the action of the kidnapping represented throughout the film. The actors of the film correctly captured the true emotions of the situation creating the illusion of a real kidnapping. Overall, it is important to understand and capture each emotion throughout the situation so that maybe one day you can help someone, too.