By 
Carry-On (2024)
Every holiday season, millions travel safely by air. This Christmas will be different.
Jaume Collet-Serra has made a career out of wringing tension from confined spaces, and with Netflix’s Carry-On he’s back in familiar territory. This time the story unfolds at Los Angeles International Airport on Christmas Eve, and the result is a slick, suspenseful thriller that keeps its engine humming for most of its runtime — even if it sputters a little before the finish line.
The film follows Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton), a frustrated TSA officer who was rejected from the police academy after lying on a polygraph about witnessing a crime connected to his father. Now stuck in a dead-end routine and preparing for life with his pregnant girlfriend, Nora (Sofia Carson), Ethan’s world is upended on Christmas Eve when a mysterious man known only as the “Traveler” (Jason Bateman) gives him a chilling ultimatum: let a specific bag through airport security, or Nora will be killed. Under constant surveillance from an accomplice known as the “Watcher” (Theo Rossi) and unable to trust anyone around him, Ethan is thrust into a deadly cat-and-mouse game inside a bustling airport terminal.
This holiday shift just got terminal.
Better than most Netflix fare, Carry-On has a lot going for it — starting with the strong performances. Taron Egerton delivers a grounded and compelling lead turn, giving Ethan the right mix of desperation and determination. Jason Bateman is perfectly cast as the icy, calculating antagonist, his calm voice on the phone managing to be more unsettling than any gun-wielding maniac. Sofia Carson adds warmth and humanity to a role that could have easily been one-note, while Danielle Deadwyler brings sharp intelligence and gravitas as Detective Elena Cole, the investigator who gradually pieces together the larger conspiracy involving nerve agents and congressional corruption. Sinqua Walls also makes an impression as Jason, Ethan’s co-worker and friend, who gets caught out when Ethan spikes his coffee — a decision that leads to painful consequences for both men. The supporting cast — including Theo Rossi, Logan Marshall-Green, and Dean Norris — all bring texture and weight to the story. There are no weak links here; everyone understands the assignment and plays their part with conviction.
Collet-Serra directs with the confidence you’d expect from a filmmaker who knows his way around a pressure-cooker thriller. The LAX airport location is a perfect setting here, full of tight corridors, crowded checkpoints and public spaces that suddenly feel dangerous. The Christmas backdrop isn’t just set dressing either; it heightens the stakes by juxtaposing holiday warmth with cold-blooded threat. Lorne Balfe’s score hums with tension, Lyle Vincent’s cinematography makes the most of sterile terminal light, and the editing keeps the pacing lean and propulsive.
What’s particularly refreshing about Carry-On is its focus on suspense over spectacle, thanks in no small part to T.J. Fixman’s script, which keeps the story character-driven even as the stakes spiral higher. This isn’t a film that tries to blow you away with constant explosions or endless shootouts. Instead, it builds tension from Ethan’s impossible situation — the helplessness of being watched, the claustrophobia of the setting, and the dread of knowing one mistake could cost lives. Sure, some of the twists and turns might stretch plausibility in the cold light of day, but they’re crafted with enough momentum and energy that you’re happy to go along for the ride. It’s a thriller very much in the spirit of another Christmas Eve–set classic, Die Hard (1988), if not in scale, and for most of its runtime, that approach pays off.
Where Carry-On falters slightly is in its final act. After a smart, gripping setup and escalating stakes, the climax doesn’t quite deliver the adrenaline rush it promises. The resolution – involving a bomb switch, a race against time, and a final confrontation to neutralize the threat before it reaches the skies — is competent and satisfying enough, but it lacks the spark of invention or sheer cinematic punch that might have elevated the film into action-thriller classic territory. It’s not a bad ending by any stretch — it resolves the story cleanly and lands the emotional beats – but it feels just a little too neat, a little too restrained, where a bolder, more kinetic approach could have sealed the deal.
Still, even with a slightly underwhelming finish, Carry-On remains a strong, highly watchable thriller. It’s well-acted, well-crafted, and atmospheric, with a tight script and a sense of tension that rarely lets up. Egerton and Bateman make for a compelling hero-villain pairing, and Collet-Serra once again proves he’s one of the most reliable directors in the business when it comes to grounded, high-stakes storytelling. It’s not quite the next Die Hard, but it’s a stylish, suspenseful holiday thriller that’s easy to recommend.
3.5 / 5 – Great
Reviewed by Dan Cachia (Mr. Movie)
