Parents' Guide to She Rides Shotgun

Though it has many elements familiar to the crime drama genre, this movie, which is based on a 2017 novel, effectively uses its 120 minutes to build the characters and deepen its emotional impact. She Rides Shotgun starts well, stretching out the time Polly spends waiting at school, keeping viewers in the dark about what exactly is wrong. Little elements come together slowly and deliberately, raising a sense of unease. At the same time, the movie drops in moments in which the characters make small connections, such as when Nathan cuts and dyes Polly's hair. He does a terrible job, but she still loves it; she does a happy little bounce in front of the mirror. And a robbery-turned-chase scene that grows ever tenser through inventive use of music also continues to bring the two characters closer.

The movie creates a sense of menace through the villainous White supremacist drug-dealing society Aryan Steel, whose members are secret and could be lurking anywhere. And Detective Park becomes a fascinating character. He's an outcast who's trying to do his job the best he can, but he may have more in common with Nathan than with his actual colleagues. But the real glue to the movie is Polly. Heger gives an exemplary performance in the role. She's asked to handle many difficult scenes, including one in which she dresses a gunshot wound on her father's leg, and she's amazingly expressive. A scene in which she panics and calls Park is a standout (she impulsively weeps and chews on her fingers as she holds the phone), but the movie's closing shot, a long close-up, is truly striking. It's seemingly minor moments like these that ultimately elevate She Rides Shotgun to something very much worth seeing.