2025 Lionsgate
Rated: R
Length: 2 hr
Action ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Thriller
Directed by: Nick Rowland
Starring: Taron Egerton, Ana Sophia Heger, Rob Yang, Odessa A’zion and John Carroll Lynch.
All A Father Needs Is A Fighting Chance.
THE BOOK:
A propulsive, gritty novel about a girl marked for death who must fight and steal to stay alive, learning from the most frightening man she knows—her father.
Eleven-year-old Polly McClusky is shy, too old for the teddy bear she carries with her everywhere, when she is unexpectedly reunited with her father, Nate, fresh out of jail and driving a stolen car. He takes her from the front of her school into a world of robbery, violence, and the constant threat of death. And he does it to save her life.
Nate made dangerous enemies in prison—a gang called Aryan Steel has put out a bounty on his head, counting on its members on the outside to finish him off. They’ve already murdered his ex-wife, Polly’s mother. And Polly is their next target.
Nate and Polly’s lives soon become a series of narrow misses, of evading the bad guys and the police, of sleepless nights in motels. Out on the lam, Polly is forced to grow up early: with barely any time to mourn her mother, she must learn how to take a punch and pull off a drug-house heist. She finds herself transforming from a shy little girl into a true fighter. Nate, in turn, learns what it’s like to love fiercely and unconditionally—a love he’s never quite felt before. But can their powerful bond transcend the dangerous existence he’s carved out for them? Will they ever be able to live an honest life, free of fear?
She Rides Shotgun is a gripping and emotionally wrenching novel that upends even our most long-held expectations about heroes, villains, and victims. Nate takes Polly to save her life, but in the end it may very well be Polly who saves him.
THE MOVIE:
She Rides Shotgun follows Nate (Taron Egerton), a recently released ex-con who suddenly shows up at his 11-year-old daughter Polly’s (Ana Sophia Heger) school and drags her into a car without much explanation. Polly barely knows her father and does not trust him, but she quickly learns that a violent white-supremacist prison gang has marked Nate’s entire family for death, and the safest place for her might actually be on the run with this stranger she is supposed to call “Dad.”
As they hit the road across New Mexico, Nate starts teaching Polly how to disappear: new hair, new clothes, fake names, and a crash course in how not to look scared. They bounce between cheap motels, roadside diners, and sketchy contacts from Nate’s old criminal life, always trying to stay one step ahead of the gang members hunting them. At first Polly feels like cargo, but the more danger they face, the more Nate involves her in the plan, whether she is ready or not.
Nate takes Polly to his brother Nick’s ex-girlfriend’s house looking for help and a place to lay low for a while. Charlotte (Odessa A’zion) is a tough, street-smart woman who gives Polly a different view of Nate and the choices he has made. Polly starts to pick up survival skills of her own, from handling herself in sketchy places to swinging a baseball bat as more than just a toy, which both scares her and makes her feel powerful. The father and daughter who started as strangers slowly develop a rough, awkward bond, built on shared danger and dark jokes.
As the gang closes in and law enforcement also starts paying attention, the walls tighten around Nate and Polly, forcing them into riskier moves and more direct confrontations. Nate becomes increasingly desperate to wipe out the threat before it reaches Polly, while Polly struggles with how much violence she is willing to accept from the man who is finally acting like a father. The story builds toward a final standoff that tests how far both of them will go to protect each other.
As I watched Ana Sophia Heger’s Polly in She Rides Shotgun, I was genuinely impressed by how authentic and emotionally nuanced her performance was. She never tries to play Polly as unrealistically tough, but instead shows a kid who’s scared, confused, and searching for safety, all in a world that keeps demanding she grow up too fast. The subtle changes in her expressions, whether she’s nervously watching her dad dye her hair or making difficult decisions under stress, made every scene feel real, and at times, heartbreaking.
What really resonated was how Ana, despite her age, matches and sometimes elevates the energy Taron Egerton brings to the screen. Their chemistry gives the whole father-daughter dynamic a bruised authenticity that made me care about their connection. There’s a moment near the end when Polly’s silent reaction communicates more than any line of dialogue could. For me, Ana Sophia Heger absolutely anchors the emotional tone of the film, her vulnerability, grit, and growth make Polly’s journey unforgettable and truly worth watching.
Ana Sophia Heger, at the age of 12, is an actress to watch, inviting comparisons to a young Tatum O’Neal while carving out something more fragile and contemporary. Ana gives a performance that feels like a spiritual descendant of Tatum in Paper Moon, but filtered through a 2020s sensibility. Less wisecracking prodigy, more vulnerable kid learning, far too early, what violence and loyalty really cost. She brings genuine depth and subtlety to her role far beyond her years, and given her passion, discipline, and ability to handle emotionally complex material, Ana Sophia Heger is poised to become a truly exceptional force in film as she grows.
You know what Bobby would say……
Highly Recommended!
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Make some popcorn,
Grab a beverage,
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Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate
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