Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
An overnight flight to Miami quickly becomes a battle for survival when Lisa realizes her seatmate plans to use her as part of a chilling assassination plot against the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. If she refuses to cooperate, her own father will be killed. As the miles tick by, she's in a race against time to find a way to warn the potential victims before it's too late.
Red Eye is a lean, efficient Wes Craven thriller that works best in its confined airplane setting. The plot is a solid high-concept premise executed with discipline — the claustrophobic tension of the cabin works well. Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy both deliver committed performances that elevate what could be routine material, with Murphy especially effective as the charming-yet-menacing antagonist. Cinematography is competent and functional, using the tight spaces well without being particularly distinctive. Novelty is low — despite the clever single-location setup, the film ultimately plays out as a fairly conventional thriller with a by-the-numbers third act that abandons much of what made the first half interesting. The ending is notably the weakest element: once the plane lands, the film devolves into a generic home-invasion chase sequence that deflates the earlier tension considerably, feeling disconnected from the more inventive airplane portion.