"237 passengers 1 assassin"
Give me a good thriller film that's captivating/intense and watch me binge the whole film in one sitting. If you know very well, you should know that I can't bypass a good thriller film for anything.
When I started watching this tv series, it was all consuming and suspenseful that I couldn't take a break regardless of my daily activities and skipping out on some hours of sleep. This mini series is similar to the series Hijack (2023) but still different and unique.
”Red Eye (2024)” is a British thriller TV series that was created by Peter A Dowling and written with Jingan Young. This series is a mixture of two genres which are political and crime thriller. The screenplay was also done by Dowling and it was directed by Kieron Hawkes. It was also produced by Kristian Dench and Letitia Knight.
This series starred Jing Lusi, Richard Armitage, Lesley Sharp, Jemma Moore, Dan Li, Cash Holland, Elaine Tan and Mido Hamada.
The story of this series revolves particularly around Dr Matthew Nolan. He attended a medical conference in Beijing, where he managed to escape a fight at a club that would have cost him his life. So on his way back home to UK, he was arrested by the UK Border Force. He was also restricted from get access to his basic rights. He was accused of killing a woman named Shen Zhào in Beijing.
On the other hand, his colleagues that went to the medical conference with him were asked to return to Beijing by the Home Office as China requested to testify. Though, MI5 Director-General Madeline Delaney was skeptical about the request made by the China embassy. So not long, a London police officer DC Hana Li was given the task from the home office to escort Dr Matthew to Beijing to answer for the crime he was being accused of.
Afterwards, Dr Matthew and officer Hana were put on the same plane, (flight 357) with Matthew’s colleagues. As flight 357 that with 237 more passengers departed, Matthew tried to convince Hana that he was being framed but Hana didn't want to hear anything from him. After an hour, a passenger ordered for a vegetarian meal but was served Matthew’s vegetarian meal instead. This passenger later died after eating the meal. More mysterious deaths occurred later on, which brings this question, who is the assassin? And who is the assassin after?
My Review And Rating.
This series gave me a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it to anyone.
First all, ”Red Eye” has the befitting mixture of genres. I couldn't take a break. I watched the whole six episodes at a stretch. From the start to the end, I was on the edge of my seat. The tension, the suspense, the action and the mystery was measured and mixed together perfectly. Once you start this series, you would want to see it through to the end. The mystery alone will make you so curious that you would want to get answers immediately.
Dowling and Jingan did a fantastic job with the plot. The story of this series was well crafted, with a good amount of action, mystery, suspense and tension. The characters were fully fleshed out with a strong background story that is perfectly waved into the plot. Each character had a role that was important and part of the puzzle. No character fell flat, no character was shadow banned. All the characters had their moments of spotlight.
The scene arrangements were done perfectly well. The setting was all done on the plane and briefly in London airport. The tone and mood was good. The themes like betrayal, lies, conspiracies, power struggle, greed, family, government, were fully explored to the last details. All the themes were framed in a way that they all make up the parts of the plot.
The actors were all impressive with their roles. They all played their roles like it came naturally to them. Richard Armitage as Dr Matthew Nolan was amazing. He blended into his character seamlessly. He was difficult to read and unpredictable in some episodes. Sometimes, he would lead you to believe he is actually the villain. Jing Lusi as DC Hana Li was good. She acted like a police officer. Her character was quite predictable, easily manipulated and not really smart. I say, her character survived to the end because of Dr Matthew.
Lesley Sharp as Madeline Delaney was the character I enjoyed fully. She was the backbone of the plot. Without her there would be justice and there wouldn't be a befitting resolution to the story of this series. She was a strong leader character. On the other hand, the character that annoyed me was Jemma Moore as Jess Li, a journalist. I don't know why Journalists are always annoying in films. Jess brought complications to the plot but in the end she was a character that had the spotlight when the mystery was about to be solved.
The cinematography was fantastic, the soundtracks were well selected and the outlook was cool. It was a fast - paced, well acted, series that was enjoyable. The action scenes were filmed with a touch of intrigue which made the suspense in this series good. The camera work was fantastic.
Rating this series, I will give it 8 out of 10 stars. I recommend that you check out this mini series. For crime/political thriller lovers, I highly recommend you go watch it as soon as possible. I enjoyed it, it was good and intriguing.
Have you seen ”Red Eye”? Did you enjoy watching it?
All images above are from the movie screenshots
Image poster design by me using canva.
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