Movie · 2006 · Drama, History, Crime, Thriller, Action · 1h 51m · R · English
Curator score: 7.7/10 (175.7K ratings)
September 11, 2001. Four planes were hijacked. Three of them reached their target. This is the story of the fourth.
Overview
A real-time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.7/10
IMDb: 7.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.74/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Metacritic: 90
TMDB: 7.1/10
Director
Paul Greengrass
Production
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Working Title Films, StudioCanal, Working Title Films
Cast
J.J. Johnson, Gary Commock, Polly Adams, Opal Alladin, Starla Benford, Trish Gates, Nancy McDoniel, David Alan Basche, Richard Bekins, Susan Blommaert, Ray Charleson, Christian Clemenson, Liza Colón-Zayas, Lorna Dallas, Denny Dillon, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Kate Jennings Grant, Peter Hermann, Tara Hugo, Marceline Hugot
Curator Review
Verdict
A devastating, tightly controlled real-time thriller that turns a known historical outcome into a nerve-shredding act of witness. Its restraint, procedural detail, and documentary immediacy make it one of the most powerful 9/11 films, though it is emotionally punishing and not easy viewing.
Best for
viewers who appreciate procedural realism and docudrama style
people interested in historically grounded disaster or crisis cinema
fans of tense, minimal, real-time filmmaking
audiences comfortable with heavy, traumatic subject matter
Skip if
you want escapist entertainment or a cathartic ending
you are sensitive to depictions of terrorism or 9/11
you prefer character-driven melodrama over procedural reconstruction
you dislike handheld, vérité-style camerawork
Overview
Paul Greengrass strips the event down to motion, confusion, and split-second decision-making, and the result is terrifyingly immediate. The film’s power comes from its refusal to over-explain or sentimentalize; it observes, listens, and lets dread accumulate naturally.
Worth noting
What makes it so effective is the balance between the hijacked cabin and the ground response, where ordinary routines become emergency protocol in real time. The mostly unfamiliar cast helps the film feel less like reenactment than lived experience, which is exactly why it lands so hard.
Bottom line
It is not an easy recommendation, because the emotional cost is part of the experience. But as a piece of urgent, disciplined filmmaking, it is exceptional: humane without manipulation, suspenseful without cheapness, and devastating precisely because everyone already knows the outcome.
Top Letterboxd reviews
jonathan fujii (4.5★) · 549 likes
Incredible movie, never want to see it again
cinemasauron (4★) · 515 likes
Almost everyone is aware of how this film is supposed to end but what director Paul Greengrass does in between the opening & closing credits here is what makes United 93 a truly devastating & unforgettable ride. Featuring a lesser-known cast who provide a sense of credibility to its drama and shot like a first-hand documentary, the film is crafted with great eye for detail and recounts the horrifying event that shook America & the entire world with unflinching accuracy.
United 93 is… more
Milez Das (5★) · 344 likes
I just can't write a review for this film.
What a tragic day to the world and America who lost so many people to the craziness of some hateful people.
Literally I have goosebumps on my whole body. I am crying, I don't know what to say. I just want to salute the people who died in the flight United 93.
Paul Greengrass you deserve a standing ovation for making this devastating film with such great integrity.
I offer my condolences to all those families who lost their loved one on this tragic day.
Matthew Buchanan (5★) · 236 likes
Ruthlessly economical filmmaking that so effectively illustrates just how unexpected and unfathomable the events of 9/11 were for the passengers and ground crews involved.
Once past the opening hotel-room and boarding-gate scenes, the film never strays beyond the walls of the hijacked aircraft or the military and civilian command centres that responded. Director Greengrass provides no explanation — other than perhaps nerves — for the hijackers’ delayed gambit on board, and deliberately downplays most of the day’s iconic imagery: the… more
Florin Scanlon (5★) · 198 likes
I'm a foreigner. When I first saw this movie about 5 years ago I didn't know too much about the 9/11 attacks. I only knew the twin towers got hit, but I knew nothing about the Pentagon or the United 93 flight. So when I sat down and watched this movie I didn't know what it was about, just that it was based on a true story. Imagine the shock I experienced during the last few seconds of the movie.… more I'm a foreigner. When I first saw this movie about 5 years ago I didn't know too much about the 9/11 attacks. I only knew the twin towers got hit, but I knew nothing about the Pentagon or the United 93 flight. So when I sat down and watched this movie I didn't know what it was about, just that it was based on a true story. Imagine the shock I experienced during the last few seconds of the movie.… more