Taron Edgerton stars in the excellent action crime thriller She Rides Shotgun.
Few films harken back to the lean, economical crime films of the 1970s as director Nick Rowland’s She Rides Shotgun. The movie, adapted from the novel of the same name by Jordan Harper and featuring standout performances by Taron Egerton and newcomer Ana Sophia Heger, is one of the year’s best.
Polly (Heger) finds herself violently thrown into her father, Nate’s (Egerton) world of confusion, crime, and violence. Nate, fresh out of prison, is quickly running out of options in a desperate situation he’s put himself in with a notorious prison gang and meth Kingpin. On the run with both his child and his life in the balance, Nate has to make split-second decisions that could end in life or death.
More of an unconventional drama/character piece than an action crime thriller, She Rides Shotgun elevates itself above films of similar ilk because of its wonderful character work. Taron Egerton and Ana Sophia Heger are amazing as the estranged father and daughter who must work together, and both learn hard lessons if they are to survive this bullet-drenched journey into purgatory. Director Rowland keeps the feel balanced between lean, economical action scenes and moments of dramatic weight. The work is as impressive as the script by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, adapting Harper’s novel.
Egerton is quickly building quite an impressive resume in recent years, eschewing traditional leading man roles for earthier, grounded character work. His Nate is anything but a hero. The way that Egerton leans into the impulsivity and darker, more violent nature of the character is electric. Watch as Nate teaches Polly how to take a man down with a bat. Egerton isn’t an actor in that movement; he’s a father teaching his daughter the only thing he knows how to teach her. Love is love, even if it’s teaching violence as a tool for protection, because that’s what he knows. Egerton soaks up these scenes and treats them not with judgment but with an unafraid naked emotionality.
Impressive as Egerton is, it’s Ana Sophia Heger that’s the true find here. As Polly, the young girl who has seen too much but still has a heart and soul to be broken, is the centerpiece of the film. Her moment on the phone in the hotel front office is as harrowing a scene you’ll see in 2025. It’s all performance, Heger’s performance. The fear, the heartache, the confusion that plays on her face is something few actors, triple her age, can muster. There isn’t a moment or scene that Heger isn’t magnetic and every bit the equal of anyone on screen. Not just in the showcase scenes, it’s the quiet moments between her and Egerton where Heger shows her true talent. If there is any justice, come awards season, the studio will mount a campaign for her as the performance is astounding in the emotions the young woman is able to summon, both big and small.
She Rides Shotgun is a minor miracle. A stylish action thriller film with dramatic weight and stakes that you won’t soon forget.
Taron Edgerton stars in the excellent action crime thriller She Rides Shotgun.
Few films harken back to the lean, economical crime films of the 1970s as director Nick Rowland’s She Rides Shotgun. The movie, adapted from the novel of the same name by Jordan Harper and featuring standout performances by Taron Egerton and newcomer Ana Sophia Heger, is one of the year’s best.
Polly (Heger) finds herself violently thrown into her father, Nate’s (Egerton) world of confusion, crime, and violence. Nate, fresh out of prison, is quickly running out of options in a desperate situation he’s put himself in with a notorious prison gang and meth Kingpin. On the run with both his child and his life in the balance, Nate has to make split-second decisions that could end in life or death.
More of an unconventional drama/character piece than an action crime thriller, She Rides Shotgun elevates itself above films of similar ilk because of its wonderful character work. Taron Egerton and Ana Sophia Heger are amazing as the estranged father and daughter who must work together, and both learn hard lessons if they are to survive this bullet-drenched journey into purgatory. Director Rowland keeps the feel balanced between lean, economical action scenes and moments of dramatic weight. The work is as impressive as the script by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, adapting Harper’s novel.
Egerton is quickly building quite an impressive resume in recent years, eschewing traditional leading man roles for earthier, grounded character work. His Nate is anything but a hero. The way that Egerton leans into the impulsivity and darker, more violent nature of the character is electric. Watch as Nate teaches Polly how to take a man down with a bat. Egerton isn’t an actor in that movement; he’s a father teaching his daughter the only thing he knows how to teach her. Love is love, even if it’s teaching violence as a tool for protection, because that’s what he knows. Egerton soaks up these scenes and treats them not with judgment but with an unafraid naked emotionality.
Impressive as Egerton is, it’s Ana Sophia Heger that’s the true find here. As Polly, the young girl who has seen too much but still has a heart and soul to be broken, is the centerpiece of the film. Her moment on the phone in the hotel front office is as harrowing a scene you’ll see in 2025. It’s all performance, Heger’s performance. The fear, the heartache, the confusion that plays on her face is something few actors, triple her age, can muster. There isn’t a moment or scene that Heger isn’t magnetic and every bit the equal of anyone on screen. Not just in the showcase scenes, it’s the quiet moments between her and Egerton where Heger shows her true talent. If there is any justice, come awards season, the studio will mount a campaign for her as the performance is astounding in the emotions the young woman is able to summon, both big and small.
She Rides Shotgun is a minor miracle. A stylish action thriller film with dramatic weight and stakes that you won’t soon forget.
She Rides Shotgun is in theaters August 1st
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