The Movie That Made Me Cheer for a Bad Dad and a Worse Cop

“She Rides Shotgun” (2025) Stars Taron Egerton, Ana Sophia Heger, Rob Yang, and John Carroll Lynch.

Have you ever wished The Last of Us had only humans and no mushroom people? 

Have you ever wished that Liam Neeson took his own daughter in Taken? And that he lacked a particular set of skills? 

Then, She Rides Shotgun might be for you.

She Rides Shotgun is a bit more nuanced than those ridiculous comparisons. However, I often thought of The Last of Us during this movie, as we rarely get to see a father-daughter duo kick ass, or was more often in this case: get their ass kicked.

She Rides Shotgun stands on its own, and there are things to love and hate about it.

What I Loved

• The rarity of the father-daughter duo is what drew me in and made me want to like the movie. There is a lot to hate about the father in the beginning, but as the movie carries on I found myself hating him less and less. He is trying to do right by his daughter, even though he fumbles constantly.  
• John Carrol Lynch played a hideously crooked cop, but it was the best acting by a tremendous margin in the entire movie. I would watch it again just to see him play a gross cop. (FYI: He recently had a small, but powerful role in ‘Sorry, Baby’, and I am convinced he is good in everything he does.) 
• There were no good people in this movie. When there are no good people in a movie, I feel better about watching the main characters commit terrible acts. Should you rob that convenience store at gun point for some cash, and get a Snickers for your hungry daughter? Sure! Why not? Everyone here sucks! Grey areas of morality are fun to play in, and it keeps me, as a viewer, on my toes. 
• ACAB. If you watch She Rides Shotgun, and you think you see a good cop; oops, you’re wrong. 

What I Hated

• The movie was too long. A run time of a little under 2 hours led to many opportunities for confrontations for the father and multiple times for the little girl to do something stupid. This time could have been better spent strengthening the relationship between father and daughter rather than reminding viewers over and over again that he is an ex-con and the daughter is going to be illogical because she’s 11-years old. 
• The father-daughter relationship was weak. This aspect makes sense, since the father hasn’t seen his daughter in years, but it made it harder to care about them, their relationship, and therefore, the whole movie. 
• The soundtrack never matched the vibes. The strange music choice took me out of the movie during a crazy car chase scene, and a few other action packed moments. 
• The empty feeling when it is over. This is not the empty feeling you get when your favorite television show is over and you will get no more of it. This movie gives you the empty feeling of an ending that doesn’t sit right. I was never fully invested in the father-daughter duo, like I wanted to be, so the ending did not make me sad so much as empty. It was over and it was not going to get any better. 

She Rides Shotgun is not going to win any awards, and is not even going to make it into my top movie list this year. However, there are some great things about the movie, which might make it worth a watch for you. Watch it for John Carrol Lynch. Watch it because ACAB.

NerdScore 5.6/10

She Rides Shotgun (2025) Review

By Jo R. Jardina • August 5, 2025 • Full Review

Review Summary

A gritty father-daughter crime thriller with flashes of heart, She Rides Shotgun hits some genre highs but struggles with uneven pacing and a thin emotional throughline.

About the Film

Adapted from Jordan Harper’s novel, the film follows a young girl on the run with her ex-con father as they navigate a violent underworld and the complicated bonds that might save—or doom—them.

IMDb 6.6/10

Metacritic 74/100

Rotten Tomatoes 86%

Where to Watch