Amber Alert (2024) Review: A Gripping, Though Sometimes Banal Mystery Thriller
A remake of Amber Alert, the 2012 found-footage thriller that sees writer-director Kerry Bellessa (2022’s supernatural horror Immanence) returning to the same story. I didn’t watch the original movie so I will base my review on its own merits. The title in question refers to the emergency child abduction system, where law enforcement would alert the public with available information about the missing child and other useful details through TV, radio, digital billboards, highway signs and mobile devices. According to the disclaimer at the end of the movie, the Amber (spelt “AMBER”) Alert system was created in 1996 after a nine-year-old child named Amber Hagerman was abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas that same year.
The movie opens with a chilling pre-title sequence as Bellessa and cinematographer Luka Bazeli incorporate drone shots and POV shots of an unseen driver cruising around the suburban neighbourhood, preying on the kids in the streets. When Monica (Katie McClellan) realises her young daughter Charlotte (Ducky Cash) is missing after letting her and her son play hide-and-seek in the park. The only information she has is her phone video meant for her baby but also happens to catch the sight of her daughter standing in front of a black Toyota Camry. She quickly calls the police, prompting the 911 dispatcher CiCi (Saidah Arrika Ekulona) to inform her sergeant (Kevin Dunn) to issue an Amber Alert.
The movie then introduces Jaq (Hayden Panettiere), a corporate employee who is supposed to be heading for a blind date but her rideshare driver already left before she even steps out of the building. Lucky for her another rideshare driver, Shane (Tyler James Williams) happens to drop a passenger at the time. She begs him to take her to the destination, even though he already mentioned it was his last ride of the day. Since Shane needs the money, he eventually agrees after Jaq promises to pay him more in cash.
En route, the two receive Amber Alert on their phones and Jaq just so happens to stumble upon a black Toyota Camry that looks like in the photo message. She convinces the reluctant Shane, who is supposed to be on his way home later for his son’s birthday to follow the car.
Bellessa does a good job establishing Jaq and Shane efficiently and it also helps that Panettiere and Williams provide enough chemistry as two strangers involved in tailing the suspecting car that may carry the abducted child. For the first half of the movie, Bellessa keeps the pace taut and suspenseful while anticipating how far ordinary civilians like Jaq and Shane would go to follow the car as discreetly as possible. It’s a good thing that Bellessa remains grounded in depicting Jaq and Shane’s course of action, where we see them improvise as they go. At one point, there’s a nifty scene involving the use of an AirPod.
As much as I was intrigued by the story, the tension somehow depletes during the nighttime scene for the rest of the movie. It even meanders around for a while before it finally picks up the pace in the third act but Bellessa somehow can’t sustain the same thrilling momentum that he achieved successfully during the first half’s daytime sequence. The movie culminates in a strictly by-the-numbers finale, robbing Amber Alert of the potential of giving this a higher rating. It’s by no means a disappointing thriller but decent enough for what is, all backed by Hayden Panettiere and Tyler James Williams’ above-average, yet believable performances. Credits also go to Kevin Dunn and Saidah Arrika Ekulona in their solid supporting roles while Kerry Bellessa shows he has the potential of making it big someday if given the opportunity.
