She Rides Shotgun Review: A Tense and an Emotional Thriller!

As a child, our parents are our main protectors, providing the skills and views that dictate our moral compass and our outlook on the world. While the strong influence of a parent can be a child’s saving grace, that allows them to succeed and thrive in an ever changing world, a child’s downfall can also come from the power of a negative parental influence that drags them down through the cracks.

Children usually feel a sense of loyalty to the ones who have raised them, regardless of their pasts, their mistakes, or the destructive paths they continue to walk through. Whether a child sees a parent everyday or once every 10 years, there is an unspeakable bond between them that is impossible to shake.

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She Rides Shotgun, directed by Nick Rowland and written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (also based on the novel by Jordan Harper), is a crime thriller that pivots from the traditional viewpoint of the investigators or criminals of the film to examine the story through the eyes of a young girl. It is a captivating film with two unforgettable characters as they experience a nightmare couple of days together with on screen chemistry that hasn’t been seen in the genre in years.

One day after school, Polly (Ana Sophia Heger), an eleven year old girl, waits for her mother to pick her up only to have her father Nathan (Taron Edgerton), whom she hasn’t seen for most of her life, demand she come with him. Confused and scared, especially upon her father’s recent release from prison, Polly follows her father as they embark on a harrowing journey on the run from a criminal gang out to kill Nathan.

Nick Rowland directs a Western-esque thriller with immense strength and style. It takes its time to build a relationship between Polly and Nathan, displaying intimate and still sequences amongst the films surrounding chaos. Rowland is able to direct emotional scenes between Polly and Nathan that provides as much intensity and suspense as his action sequences, a testament to his talent as a filmmaker. The film’s ability to slam on its breaks to examine the complicated relationship between father and daughter while maintaining its tension-filled atmosphere strikes a strong balance that hasn’t been seen in crime thrillers in a long time.

Ana Sophia Hegger’s portrayal of Polly is the best work seen from a young actress in recent memory. The deliverance of her dialogue as well as her physical and facial performance is able to give her character layers of depth that is able to tell her story even beyond what the script offers. As Polly must come to terms with her father’s troubling past in the wake of his desire to forge a bond with her, her loyalty she feels towards Nathan is one that tells a deeper story of love and connection.

Taron Edgerton continues to show his ability to take on any role while always giving his audience a profound look at some of the most lovable and morally corrupt individuals with the same amount of bite. The chemistry between Polly and Nathan onscreen is a demonstration of two actors fully molding themselves into their characters through beautiful collaboration.

She Rides Shotgun takes its on-the-run premise and gives the film an extraordinary quality of realism and a multidimensional look at a child’s need for parental guidance and love. Polly is a character that is able to understand the weight of the situation she and Nathan find themselves in even if she is in the dark from the grown up details. Allowing the film to be told primarily from her point of view is able to focus more on her story of confusion and fear while still putting trust in her father unconditionally. Rowland does an amazing job throughout the film of putting the audience in a tough spot, wanting to see father and daughter make it out together while maintaining a sense of uneasiness as to the likely fate of Nathan.

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She Rides Shotgun is a film that understands its own direction, even if it will break the audience in the process. It maintains a cinematic quality to its story that never forgets where it must lead in the end. With one of the most heartbreaking yet hopeful endings this year, She Rides Shotgun is a must see for its incredible artistry and an unforgettable performance by Ana Sophia Hegger.

‘She Rides Shotgun’ Rating – 4.5/5