‘Carry On’ is a thriller for all occasions

Sometimes you just want to watch a movie that demands absolutely zero from its audience.

It’s just about sitting back, relaxing, and letting the story take care of itself. No thinking, no figuring out whodunnit.

The new Netflix thriller Carry On is all that. Because after another gritty day, week, month or year, who wants to do much else than a couch potato? We want to chill and wind down as much as possible.

Transportation Safety Agency worker Ethan Kopek, played by Taron Egerto, mans the hand baggage X-ray checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport or LAX.

He has not had a promotion in three years but on Christmas Eve he gets the chance to prove himself. What follows is an ordeal of terrorist proportions as he finds himself trapped in a deadly game of intimidation and survival.

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As his shift rolls on, Ethan receives an unsettling set of instructions from a ruthless mercenary.

The baddie, known as the Traveller, is played by Jason Bateman.

Using an earbud to communicate, the Traveller orders Ethan to allow a specific carry-on case through security or risk his girlfriend’s life.

She also happens to work at the airport. To make matters worse, the Traveller’s sidekick, aptly nicked The Watcher, monitors Ethan’s every move through the airport’s hacked surveillance system.

The TSA officer just cannot seek help, despite trying some innovative methods, and with a sniper rifle aimed at his girlfriend, the heat is on.

A couch potato thriller

The situation spirals further when Ethan learns that the carry-on bag that he must allow through security contains Novichok, a highly lethal Russian-made nerve agent.

It’s headed for a flight that counted, amongst its passengers, high-profile American politicians.

Needless to say, LAX turns into chaos as the manhunt, the bomb hunt and the craziness of the terrorist plot unfolds.  

In between the action, we learn that Ethan had always wanted to be a police officer. His dream was never realised, because his dad’s criminal record derailed his own attempts at becoming a cop.

Ethan just gave up, settled for the TSA job and became trapped in a zero-ambition and rudderless job. It was not a career.

This is in stark contrast to his girlfriend’s career in an airline that seems to be flying high.

Of course, the whole romp at the airport and Ethan’s shapeshift to heroism in the face of adversity also become the catalyst he needs, the kick up his derriere, to pursue his dream to become a police officer.

He does so successfully after the LAPD witness the playing out of the airport incident and his positive role in it.

A great, layered plot

So that’s the plot in a nutshell, but there’s a lot more to the film and it is worth watching because it’s not going to ask too many questions that you need to find the answers to.

Carry On shows its hand. It is predictable in its storyline and progression.

Critics have labelled the movie as ‘moderate’, and perhaps it’s no cinematic Picasso. But before you scroll past it, or hesitate, know that how Spanish director Jaume Colett-Serra tells the story is highly simple, enjoyable, and easy to follow.

It’s a no-nonsense approach to moviemaking that leaves the bulldust where it belongs: with critics.

There is more than enough character development in the film where it matters, and Eagerton’s performance is easy on the eye and audience.

He downplays his character perfectly while at the opposite end, Jason Bateman’s menace-riddled character is psychotically well portrayed.

Bateman really is A-list on all fronts. His ability to become whomever he wants to be is reaffirmed in every piece of television and long-form storytelling that he stars in.

Carry On really is the perfect holiday movie. There’s action, no tangled web of subplots and segues. Just a timeline thriller that’s meant to add some fun to your downtime.

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