Rachel McAdams’s 2000s Thriller Is A Lean, Mean Traveler’s Worst Nightmare

By Robert Scucci
| Published 21 seconds ago

After watching 1989’s Intruder, I was craving another film that takes place in a bottle setting because I love it when actors have to work with what little surroundings they have to tell a compelling story. In my search to scratch that itch, I went back to 2005’s Red Eye, a film that didn’t hold my interest when it first came out but one I wanted to give a second chance. Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy were just kicking off their now long and decorated careers, and their chemistry here is an early proof of what they’re capable of, making Red Eye a short and sweet thriller that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Clocking in at 85 minutes, Red Eye has zero fat in its storytelling, which is exactly what this kind of thriller needs. It gets in and out before you fully realize how absurd its setup and execution are, and if you’re willing to suspend some disbelief, you’ll have a great time watching this mile high melee play out. Just make sure you fasten your seatbelt because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Shockingly Simple, But Works To Its Advantage

Here’s the entire spoiler-free plot for Red Eye, which shows how simple this movie really is. Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) manages the Lux Atlantic Hotel in Miami and is flying back from Texas after handling some family affairs. She meets and hits it off with the calm and charming Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) before her flight, only to find out he’s seated next to her when they board.

Jackson reveals himself to be a domestic terrorist and plans to use Lisa to help orchestrate an assassination attempt targeting United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Charles Keefe (Jack Scalia), who just so happens to be staying at her hotel in the coming days. If Lisa doesn’t cooperate, Jackson will put a hit out on her father, Joe (Brian Cox), before the plane even lands.

That’s the entire plot to Red Eye, and the stakes are made crystal clear before we even get through the first act. The rest of the film is a tight, claustrophobic experience inside the plane’s cabin as Lisa tries to outsmart Jackson, who always seems to be one step ahead.

It’s clear he’s done things like this before because he never loses his cool and just sits back waiting for her to comply. Cillian Murphy is an absolute menace in this role because Jackson starts out so disarmingly charming to earn Lisa’s trust, then turns on a dime the second it’s time to carry out his plan.

Patently Unrealistic, So Don’t Think About It

Red Eye is a fun little thriller propped up by some immense talent, but I’ll admit there are a couple things that took me out of it. What bothered me most was how clueless the rest of the passengers were.

Sure, Jackson threatened Lisa into staying quiet, but there are moments where she’s obviously in distress and everyone looks the other way. In the real world, people would step in and complicate matters for Jackson.

I would have liked to see how he would have handled interruptions like that on a larger scale. Then again, that would complicate things tremendously, so it’s better to suspend some disbelief and assume everyone is in their own little bubble, not noticing that the man sitting next to a sobbing Lisa is whispering through his teeth and forcing her to make phone call after phone call.

It’s almost not worth mentioning Red Eye’s screenplay issues because the cast sells the premise. Back in 2005, I only checked this movie out because my only reference point for Cillian Murphy was 28 Days Later. Here, he shows real range as a menacing antagonist who feels in total control, which is a far cry from the panic-stricken apocalypse survivor from his breakout role. While I didn’t fully appreciate Red Eye back then, I’m more forgiving twenty years later because I’ve seen some truly terrible thrillers since, and by comparison this one holds up better than expected.

Red Eye is lean, mean, and will make you think twice about starting small talk with your co passengers on a flight. If that sounds like something you can handle, you can stream it on Paramount Plus as of this writing.