The #1 Movie on Netflix Is a High Stakes Holiday Thriller (& the Trailer Is Wild)

Watching this tonight

Published Dec 18, 2024

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4:55pm

Courtesy of Netflix

It's not too often that I see a movie trailer that makes me want to drop everything and start watching it immediately. This was the case after I saw the three-minute trailer for Netflix's Carry-On—which happens to be the number one film on the streaming service's top 10 list of movies right now.

In case you're unfamiliar, the holiday-themed, edge-of-your-seat thriller revolves around Ethan (Taron Egerton), a TSA agent who discovers a seemingly harmless earbud while working in the baggage-scanning lane on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, chaos ensues when a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman) uses the earpiece to blackmail him. Ethan's task? To help him smuggle a dangerous package onto a flight.

The trailer starts off like a Hallmark-style rom-com, with cutesy shots of Ethan and his girlfriend (played by Sofia Carson), and a montage of passengers bustling through an airport on Christmas Eve. However, the tone shifts dramatically when Ethan discovers the earbud and receives a text instructing him to place it in his ear.

A mysterious voice tells him, "Today is a day that you're gonna remember for a very long time, but if you handle it right, you're gonna have a chance to forget it."

After this, Ethan desperately tries to outsmart his blackmailer, but all of his efforts seem to backfire.

Courtesy of Netflix

Jaume Collet-Serra, who directed the high-stakes thriller, told Tudum that Egerton and Bateman are the real stars of the film. He said, “We all wanted this to feel incredibly realistic, like the events of this movie could happen to any of us on any given day at any airport, and Jason and Taron delivered brilliant performances that helped ground our movie and make it feel real. I think they also very much enjoyed the cat-and-mouse game between their two characters and really had a great time making a meal out of those moments.”

Collet-Serra also revealed that the holiday theme is intentional, adding, “My hope is that Carry-On can be enjoyed all year round as a fun, popcorn thriller. But of course, the holiday travel theme is integral to our story, and we definitely had fun with it in terms of Christmas decorations in the airport and some classic holiday tunes in the soundtrack.”

Courtesy of Netflix

In addition to Egerton, Carson and Bateman, the Carry-On cast includes Danielle Deadwyler, Tonatiuh, Theo Rossi and Logan Marshall-Green. It's also written by T.J. Fixman and produced by Dylan Clark.

Carry-On is now available to stream on Netflix—and I'll definitely be watching tonight.

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Nakeisha Campbell

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