Hijack

And they say flying is the safest way to travel? Next time I’m on a flight I’m going to be staring everyone down so much, they will end up tackling me down to the ground LOOOL. Hijack puts us right in a passenger seat of a hijacked plane and the various mental states such a situation would bring to light.

Sam Nelson is a talented business negotiator who is going through some marital/family issues and in an attempt to rekindle his family back together, he decides to take an impromptu flight from Dubai to London to go see his ex-wife and son. He travels light with no luggage just some jewellery for the Mrs. His flight is then taken over by armed hijackers who are not afraid to use their weapons. It’s a 7-hour flight and due to a few mixes ups the plans of the hijackers get disjointed and there is a lot of improvs. Meanwhile, down on the ground some big decisions are to be made by those in political power to help get the passengers back home safely. Passenger families are then also threatened if they do not cooperate which emphasises the drama from all angles. It’s a thrilling ride (PUN INTENDED).

Uncle Idris brings his A game through to this mini-series as Sam Nelson. He’s charming, confident and dazzling with his performance. He exhibits every single possible emotion I know I would be feeling up there. Fear, anxiety, shock, regret, bravery… you name it? He showed us. Neil Maskell plays the lead hijacker, Stuart. He does well to showcase a clueless leader who is nervous and unsure of what they are doing but trying to make things work with what he has. Max Beesley plays Daniel, the new lover of Marsha Nelson, Sam’s ex-wife played by Christine Adams. They are both grounded characters with minimal lines but contribute with good displays where need be. Ben Miles stars as the plane’s captain Robin Allen. Mohamed Elsandel plays one of the hijackers with the least lines but most impact. Dude was ruthless and savage. Great performance. It’s such a small cast but it was an impactful group. The minimal lines everyone had resonated with the tone of the show and added to the drama. There are these 3 child actor females who took advantage of their screen time well.

One thing I loved around the premise and marketing of this show is that the 7-episode format it has is actually a demonstration of the real time 7-hour flight.

Meaning each episode represents each hour of the flight. I thought that was a cool idea. Good thing they weren’t going to Australia ayyy. The pacing of the show fits in well with the concept. The transitions from air to ground stay intact so the tension never drops. The many locations allow us the audience to take breaks from the drama on the plane. The cinematography propels the suspense. It keeps within the aisles of the plane adding that claustrophobic feeling of being squashed on this vessel. The grading of the visuals has a sort of grey tone over the colours in the shot. The creative decision to have each episode end on a cliff-hanger helped the irritation of having to wait weekly for episodes. It just keeps you locked in wondering what happens next.

There’s a lot going on here stories wise with little time to tell it all so what it does is focus on the main points and enlarges it all, QUICKLY. You have the family tension of a son having to deal with a new man of the house, you have exes calling exes for relationship advice whilst trying to work together to manage the situation at hand (talk about prioritising ayy). The straining pressure amongst the passengers start to spill out onto each other creating more stressful scenarios. What adds to the anxiety of the viewer is as much as we are left in the dark, clueless of the potential end goal here, the hijackers on the plane are in the exact same position, just following instructions oblivious to what their next step is. Idris carries the show well and his negotiation displays are enjoyable, I’m unsure how well they would work in real though lol. The family ties that are revealed both in the air and ground help keep everything connected. It has an intense finale and they do close off the series quite well.

Although a slow start it picks up really quickly and manages to maintain its velocity (see what I did there). It’s a captivating burst of twist and turns with smart writing. Apple scored big on this and hope to see more like this. Just not in the weekly format. Recommended watch!

What would you have done in that situation? What kind of passenger are you? Try and attack or sit and chill? Does this need a season 2? React and comment below…