Amber Alert (2024)

Amber Alert (2024) Ah, I hear this is the remake of a 2012 found footage film directed by Kerry Bellessa, who has returned to direct the 2024 version, this time with a bigger budget and a traditional storytelling style. Good, because I haven’t been able to stand found footage for a while.

Bellessa has said that the story was inspired by a real-life experience when he and his wife were confronted with an active Amber Alert while driving, which prompted him to explore the concept of civilian response to such emergencies.

Amber Alert is a 2024 American thriller directed by Kerry Bellessa and co-written by Bellessa and Joshua Oram. The film stars Hayden Panettiere and Tyler James Williams as two ordinary citizens who become embroiled in a high-stakes chase after receiving an AMBER Alert about a child abduction.

A remake of Bellessa’s 2012 film of the same name, Amber Alert was released in select cinemas and on-demand on 27 September 2024 by Lionsgate Films. It explores the themes of civil intervention, moral responsibility and the urgency of the AMBER Alert system.

At first, I found it very hard to believe that a meticulous criminal could be followed in a car without realising it. Then we discover that he knows exactly what he’s doing… even if he does it in a bizarre way…

Ambert Alert makes us familiar with what can happen in America during such an alert. It was named after a little Amber was, sadly, found dead after being abducted. Since then, this approach has helped to save many lives and find children.

It’s great to see Tyler James Williams again, the actor who died horribly in the Walking Dead series. Here, he adds a touch of humour that is quite surprising for a dramatic film of this kind. It’s rather welcome, but disturbing.

Otherwise, I’m not a big fan of Hayden Panettiere, but she’s a very beautiful person, given that she’s a fairly well-known animal activist against aboriginal whaling, as well as an advocate against domestic abuse. It was nice to see her in Scream 4 (2011) and Scream 6 (2023). I might have to end up watching the Heroes series too, one day.

The little girl (Ducky Cash) is adorable, of course, and her mother (Monica Bryce) gives a great performance. All the police work is done by decent actors (Saidah Arrika Ekulona and Kevin Dunn), as is the kidnapper (Kurt Oberhaus). To conclude, I quite enjoyed this film, it’s really not bad. But it lacks something to make it even better, and it lacks several things to make it a masterpiece. That said, it’s not bad, given the number of very bad films being released in bulk. This remake, which I’ll certainly never watch, is still a pleasant surprise.