Carry-On
2024 · Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Original language: English
- thriller
- action
The story
An airport security officer races to outsmart a mysterious traveler forcing him to let a dangerous item slip onto a Christmas Eve flight.
What it’s like
Cramped, fluorescent-lit and relentlessly claustrophobic, this is a film of harsh overhead light, sickly green-grey terminal corridors and the hum of x-ray machines, shot largely in tight handheld frames that keep the camera pressed close to a single stressed face. Much of the action lives in the cold steel of security checkpoints and the glossy, half-empty spaces of a Los Angeles airport on Christmas Eve, with tinsel and festive decor clashing against the procedural grey. The score is driven by a taut synth-and-strings pulse that tightens as the clock ticks, and the editing favours quick cuts and countdown tension over quiet moments. Its vibe is anxious, high-pressure and kinetic, a ticking-clock thriller for a late evening when you want to be gripped rather than soothed. The intensity is moderate: sustained threat and peril, some brief physical struggle and menace, but little graphic gore and no sexual content. Recommended for people who enjoy underdog thrillers with a strong sense of place, and for anyone who wants tension that never lets up.
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