Amber Alert is a thriller that director Kerry Bellessa kind of made already back in 2012. The earlier Amber Alert, which I haven’t seen, is a low budget found footage pic where this new one clearly had a much higher budget (while also not being found footage).

The film is about a woman (Hayden Panettiere) who, during a ride-share, spots a car that might be the subject of an Amber Alert. Over the course of a day and night, they tail the mystery car, growing more and more sure there’s a kidnapped little girl in the back seat.

This is an effective, taut thriller that certainly raises alarm bells of logic and authenticity but its suspense and momentum are good enough to overwhelm doubt. It can be quite masterful at generating tension.

That said, yeah, the logic of why these two people are throwing themselves at danger and where the heck the cops are is pretty eye-rolly. And if you ask why they move so slow when they are under time pressure, then you’d be absolutely right. But I guess that’s why they call it suspense? I guess. If everything was easy, there wouldn’t be a movie. Still, I could have used better writing.

This film isn’t as good as the similar but far superior The Call (with Halle Berry) which has a similar premise. But it still does enough with the thrills and suspense that the writing problems can be selectively ignored. I enjoyed the ride and just told myself to go along to get along. It’s a good, thrilling trip.

Score: 81