Carry-On

2024   Netflix

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  1 hr  59min

Action ~ Drama ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Directed by:  Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring:  Taron Egerton, Sofia Carson, Danielle Deadwyler, Theo Rossi and Jason Bateman.

“One bag…..for one life.”

It’s Christmas Eve and Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) and his pregnant girlfriend Nora Parisi (Sofia Carson) are getting ready to go to work. They both work at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) and reluctantly have to work Christmas Eve. Ethan is a TSA agent and Nora is Director of Operations at Northwind Airlines. Nora mentions to Ethan that she thinks he is unhappy with his job at TSA and should consider applying for the Police Academy again. As Ethan arrives late to his shift he considers Nora’s remarks and decides that he likes his job at TSA. They have a baby on the way and he sees it as the quickest way to get more money, and asks his boss for a promotion.

His boss decides to give him a chance as they could use another man on the front lines and puts him on the line scanning passengers bags. A young woman gets his attention ands says the earbud in the bottom of one of the bins is not hers. He takes it and his phone immediately rings, he answers and is instructed to put the earbud in his ear. The voice in the earbud explains to him that he is to do exactly as instructed. There is a passenger coming through very shortly and Ethan is to allow his bag to pass through the scanner or else. “All you have to do is…..nothing………let the bag pass, Or your pregnant girlfriend ends up dead.”

Jason Bateman stars as the bad guy whose voice is in the earbud. He does an excellent job of being the bad guy who will do whatever it takes to get the carry on bag through the scanner and on the plane. Theo Rossi stars as Jason’s partner in crime who is in charge of surveillance and murder if necessary. Danielle Deadwyler stars as the Detective who starts to put pieces of a puzzle together that lead her to the unfolding events at the airport. I really like her! In this and also in The Piano Lesson and especially in Till.

It is a Christmas movie in that it is set on Christmas Eve. Netflix”s Tudum features an article with the director Jaume Collet-Serra who explains: “Like Die Hard, Carry-On is a Christmas Movie. My hope is that Carry-On can be enjoyed all year round as a fun, popcorn thriller. But of course, the holiday travel theme is integral to our story, and we definitely had fun with it in terms of Christmas decorations in the airport and some classic holiday tunes in the soundtrack.” It is a good soundtrack, and a good movie as well. I enjoyed it, it kept me involved with all the twists and turns the plot took.

Highly Recommended, especially to watch Jason Bateman as a really bad guy for once.

Two Thumbs Up!