Feeding off the fear of terrorism, closed spaces and losing a loved one, Flightplan is a high-intensity thriller propelled by a heart-pounding soundtrack and characters that keeps the audience guessing.
The thriller ensnares the audience within the first few minutes, as recently widowed Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster) boards a futuristic super plane with her daughter, but the real intensity begins when, at 30,000 feet, Pratt’s daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston) disappears, and not one member of the crew can attest that the girl was ever on the flight.
While there are only so many directions the plot can move, the film finds new twists and turns, playing off audience assumptions. In a plane filled with hundreds of passengers, everyone is suspect, including Pratt herself.
Foster returns in her first thriller since 2002’s Panic Room, and proves once again that she is capable of a wide range of emotions – the audience is left guessing as Foster transforms from a concerned and wary woman mourning the death of a loved one to a panicked, and possibly psychopathic, mother.
Surrounding Foster is an attractive cast including Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean and Kate Beahan. As bored and aloof air marshal Carson, Sarsgaard is a powerful, leveling force. The remainder of the flight crew and passengers, composed of both newcomers and seasoned actors, are easy-to-abhor characters that drive home the idea that in a fast-paced, uncaring world, it is too easy to find one’s self lost. m
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