The story of the film, in broad strokes, is essentially that of the book: Nate McClusky (Taron Egerton) has recently been released from prison - however he earned the enmity of a powerful Aryan gang while inside and now has a "green light" for his death as well as the death of his family hanging over him. Nate finds his daughter Polly (Ana Sophia Heger) so that the two can hide, survive, and possibly escape the threat of murderous gang members and those in their sphere of influence. Polly, who hasn't seen Nate in years, is naturally suspicious and frightened and what follows is as much a story of the two learning to relate to one another as it is a chase story - though it is still punctuated with tense sequences of action and violence. The success of the film is heavily indebted to the stand out performances from the two leads. Egerton, against type, manages to convincingly walk the tightrope between an edgy ex-con capable of intense physical brutality when called upon and a genuinely caring parent. Ana Sophia Heger may well be giving the child performance of the year, absolutely embodying the intelligent, independent Polly who is both keenly perceptive but also still a young child being subjected to a tsunami of emotional trauma. The first 15 minutes of the film beautifully establish Nate and Polly's rapport with each other - allowing their mutual suspicion to pare away naturally and give way to a fragile, but vital, trust.
Shotgun features some tremendous supporting roles as well, notably John Carroll Lynch as the sheriff in a county outside of Albuquerque (where much of the film takes place) that also happens to house one of the largest meth labs in the state. Lynch is capable of both a folksy charisma and chilling menace and transitions seamlessly between them in a scene where he questions and tortures a wayward heroin mule caught in his territory. My favorite bit of casting has to be Rob Yang as Detective John Park. Park, in the novel, is written as a committed career investigator who is obsessed with the chase and finding his quarry. Yang does embody some of this aspect but he also delivers it with an intellectual remove that adds another layer of interest to the character. I'm mostly familiar with Yang as a television actor but I would love to see him lead a crime/thriller film of his own.
Stylistically, Shotgun feels like a film with a real budget behind it. There are some breathtaking shots of the New Mexico landscape at twilight that give way to almost alien darkness dotted with city lights stretching out into the distance. The exteriors are paired with some novel neo-noir interiors including a dimly lit roadside trailer "trucker's chapel." Much of the movie centers on the evolving relationship between Nate and Polly, but the action is visceral when it arrives. The fight sequences are awkward and nasty - feeling much more like the reality of violence than action movie choreography. The film does allow for a highly cinematic car chase between Nate and the local police - it bends plausibility but never breaks it and it's hard to resist genre goods delivered so expertly. The climax lands somewhat clumsily for me, but it's still a solid action sequence that allows for some fantastically villainous stuff from Lynch. The denouement again gives Heger a platform to capture startling emotional complexity from a performer so young.
She Rides Shotgun is getting a limited theatrical release starting today (08/01/2025) and I would highly recommend you seek it out if it is playing near you. A friend recently asked me if mid-budget crime films and thrillers are clawing their way back into the theater and I'd like to think that they are. This one is too good to miss.
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