Flight Risk (2025)

Movie · 2025 · Action, Thriller · 1h 31m · R · English

Curator score: 0.2/10 (135.9K ratings)

Y'all need a pilot?

Overview

A pilot transports a U.S. Marshal accompanying a government witness to a trial in New York. As they cross the Alaskan wilderness, tensions soar and trust is tested, as not everyone on board is who they seem.

Ratings

Director

Mel Gibson

Production

Davis Entertainment, Icon Productions, Hammerstone Studios, Lionsgate, Media Capital Technologies

Cast

Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, Topher Grace, Leah Remini, Maaz Ali, Paul Ben-Victor, Eilise Patton, Savanah Joeckel, Monib Abhat, Senor Pablo, Mark 'Cowboy' Schotz, Milko Kadikov, Atanas Srebrev, Georgi S. Georgiev

Where to watch

Max

Curator Review

Verdict

A lean hostage-thriller setup with an airborne, snowbound premise should be catnip, but the execution is widely described as flat, ugly, and more laughable than suspenseful. It may amuse viewers who enjoy so-bad-it’s-baffling studio thrillers, but as a thriller it mostly fails to generate tension or momentum.

Best for

  • fans of unintentionally funny bad movies
  • viewers curious about late-career studio action misfires
  • people who enjoy single-location B-movie setups regardless of quality

Skip if

  • you want tight suspense or inventive action
  • you are sensitive to crude, mean-spirited dialogue
  • you dislike cheap-looking CGI and generic thriller craft

Overview

Flight Risk has the bones of a solid pulp thriller: a plane, a witness, a marshal, and a long stretch of hostile wilderness where nobody can be trusted. That kind of stripped-down setup usually thrives on pressure and escalation, but here the material feels underpowered and strangely inert. Instead of sharpening the tension, the movie seems to drift between routine beats and accidental comedy.

Worth noting

The result is less a white-knuckle ride than a showcase for how much a thriller can sag when the writing, action staging, and visual polish all miss at once. The film’s reputation is dominated by jokes about its look, its dialogue, and its absurd tonal choices, and that tracks with the experience of watching it. Even the most promising premise elements never really click into place.

Bottom line

If you’re in the mood for a knowingly trashy chamber thriller, there may be a perverse curiosity value here. But for most viewers, there are far better airborne suspense movies, hostage thrillers, and wilderness survival stories that deliver the same setup with actual momentum and craft.

Top Letterboxd reviews

Cris Parker (1★) · 3005 likes

Ai generated snow motel & a 2005 CGI moose being the first thing you see is crazyyyy

ClockworkKing (1.5★) · 2870 likes

Mark Baldberg

hannah (1.5★) · 2183 likes

was on the edge of my seat waiting to leave

Sugarcane (1★) · 1351 likes

Jawdropping hairline reveal

Alex IHE (1★) · 852 likes

Somehow missed Mel Gibson directed this until the end-credits, died laughing at the reveal, awful shit

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Topics

thriller, action, hostage situation, survival, snowbound, confined space, paranoia, betrayal, B-movie, cat-and-mouse

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