Netflix has an odd way of celebrating the holiday season. No, I’m not talking about Hot Frosty, a popular movie offering that sees Frosty the Snowman transformed into a hot human man with abs. I’m talking about Carry-On, a thriller set during the holidays that chronicles the desperate situation a young TSA agent named Ethan, played by Taron Egerton, finds himself in during his busy shift on Christmas Day.
A mysterious and unseen traveler blackmails Ethan into letting a suspicious package through on a plane that’s about to leave the airport. If he doesn’t comply, his pregnant girlfriend will die. That’s quite a pickle. It’s also a great premise, one that will surely grab plenty of eyeballs. If you’re a fan of the movie and are craving more movies like it, then keep reading since this list has three options that will satisfy your action-thriller needs.
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Phone Booth (2002)
If Carry-On was made in 2002, it would look and sound something like Phone Booth. The 2002 Joel Schumacher film largely confines its handsome leading man, in this case, The Penguin‘s Colin Farrell, in one location and has an offscreen villain who makes some impossible demands on the film’s hero. It’s also just as tense and has a great ending that will make you want to watch it again.
Farrell plays Stuart, a cocky publicist who is about to cheat on his wife. As he is about to leave a Times Square phone booth, the phone rings, which he answers. What follows is a perverse game of cat and mouse as the mysterious caller forces Stuart to confront the lies he told other people and himself as well. Will Stuart pass the caller’s moral tests? Or will his last moments be on the phone with a stranger who holds his life in his hands?
The Commuter (2018)
At least one Liam Neeson movie needs to be on this list, and The Commuter has the most in common with Carry-On. In Jaume Collet-Serra’s 2018 thriller, Neeson plays Michael McCauley, an ex-cop turned insurance agent who is commuting from New York City to his hometown of Tarrytown. While on the train, Michael is approached by a stranger, Joanna (Vera Farmiga), who makes him an offer: She’ll pay him $100,000 if he can help her locate Prynne, the fake name of an unknown passenger who is later revealed to be in the witness protection program.
Michael smells a rat, but his initial refusal is complicated by Joanna informing him that if he doesn’t cooperate, his family will die. Can Michael do the right thing while keeping his family from being harmed? The Commuter is one of the best action-thrillers of the last decade, and those seeking the same thrills that Carry-On delivers should watch, or re-watch, this movie pronto.
The Commuter can be rented or purchased on Amazon Prime Video.
Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)
Now, here’s a movie that uses an airport as an effective setting for thrills … and one spectacular action set piece after another. Die Hard 2 is, of course, the follow-up to the massive 1988 hit Die Hard, which people still insist is a legitimate Christmas movie. It’s not, but Die Hard 2 is because it has tons of snow and festive cheer, even if the snow is covered in blood and the Christmas jingles are drowned out by the sounds of explosions.
Detective John McClane just can’t catch a break. It’s Christmas Eve, and he’s waiting in a Washington D.C. airport for his wife’s plane to land. A plane carrying an international terrorist is also scheduled to land at the same airport, and a rogue band of ex-military sympathizers plan on hijacking the plane and setting the terrorist free. That doesn’t sit well with McClane, so he does what he does best: shoot bad guys and blow up various cars, buildings, and even a plane. Die Hard 2 is a great action movie, but it’s also an effective thriller that just doesn’t let up until the end credits roll.
Die Hard 2 is streaming on Hulu.