Carry-On (2024)

IMDb plot summary: A mysterious traveler blackmails a young TSA agent into letting a dangerous package slip through security and onto a Christmas Eve flight.

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Stars Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, and Sofia Carson.

Carry-On is a thriller starring Taron Egerton as a TSA officer and Jason Bateman as the terrorist who is forcing him to allow a dangerous item through the checkpoint, or terrible things will happen. This is a fun premise for a movie -- the problem is, it goes on too long. I'm firmly of the belief that the best one-location thrillers come in around 90 minutes, as it's very hard to carry that energy beyond that. This one stretches to two hours, and the final 40 minutes feel tedious. The first two thirds are a good ride, though, and Jason Bateman is a lot of fun as the heartless terrorist. That deadpan delivery of his turns out to be kind of terrifying when it's being applied to widespread destruction. If this is a genre that you're already drawn to, you might not feel the length, but if not, this isn't the one that is going to draw you in.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Carry-On (2024)

📊 Ranked #1649/4152 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 60

beat Hamlet (#2074 → #2075)

lost to 20th Century Women (held at #1037)

lost to The Virtuous Sin (held at #1555)

beat The Wicker Man (#1814 → #1815)

beat Cinema Paradiso (#1684 → #1685)

lost to I'm Still Here (held at #1619)

beat Unpregnant (#1651 → #1652)

lost to Newsies (held at #1635)

lost to The Thin Man (held at #1643)

lost to Battle Royale (held at #1647)

beat Allegiance (#1649 → #1650)

lost to Hit Man (held at #1648)