Red Eye takes TV’s most reliably exciting premise and makes it nearly unwatchable

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Do you know anyone who actually anticipates flying? There are people who are afraid of flying. Others just tolerate the cramped conditions since the flight attendants are always ready to serve alcohol. However, a type of flight that is absolutely unpleasant is the Red Eye.

The first episode of a six-part series premiered on ITV last weekend. The show tells the story of a man (Richard Armitage) who returns to the UK from a business trip in China. However, upon arriving, he is immediately extradited back to China for a murder he did not commit. The majority of the series occurs on the flight back to China, where Armitage and the other passengers face a crisis. Along with Armitage is a skilled law enforcement official played by Jing Lusi. The flight turns into a nightmare when poison is found in the meals served. The airplane is filled with dead bodies, and the mystery of what happened becomes increasingly confusing.

The series Red Eye is not very good and seems like it would be hard to sit through with its bad dialogue and uninteresting politics. However, it somehow manages to be barely watchable, according to Nick Hilton in his two-star review for The Independent. It satisfies the audience's desire for excitement and adventures, despite all its flaws. It's rare to find a plane-set thriller that isn't exciting because there's something about being in the air that makes everything more intense. Movies like Air Force One or Hijack show that all you need is a hero, a plane, and a scenario to keep people entertained. But why are planes such great settings for thrillers?

Firstly, there's the feeling of being trapped within the aircraft. Setting a scene inside a plane cabin gives a dramatic sense of space and time, almost like watching a play. The boundaries are set and the characters are limited in where they can move and what they can do, which raises the intensity of the situation. (This remains true even in a film like Red Eye, which repeatedly switches to a related subplot on the ground in the UK involving the intelligence chief Lesley Sharp.)

However, unlike a movie that takes place entirely in a warehouse or mansion, an airplane is a constantly changing environment that can be full of danger simply because of its altitude and speed. Although in reality, the chances of a plane crash are relatively low, in action movies, planes seem to fall out of the sky frequently. As portrayed in the 1988 movie Midnight Run, Charles Grodin's character expresses his fear of flying by insisting that "these things go down!" and in the world of film and TV, he's not entirely wrong.

A locked-room narrative that takes place on an airplane is a high-stakes scenario. The characters are often tense and can potentially be violent. They are confined to a fast-moving metal container with no means of escape, making the situation even more intense. It's a difficult plot to ruin.

Red Eye has a similar appeal to other films like Con Air and Flightplan, both of which are thrillers. Interestingly, Peter A Dowling, the creator of Red Eye, also wrote Flightplan. However, this does not mean that the thriller genre has not evolved with the passing of time.

There have been two big changes in the world of thrilling movies about flying. The first one happened in 1980 when a very popular movie called Airplane! made a lot of jokes about the kind of movies that were popular at the time. This made people think differently about melodramatic disaster movies. For twenty years, people made movies that were less serious about flying, like Passenger 57 or Air Force One. Then, something really bad happened in 2001. Two planes crashed into a big building called the World Trade Center, and everyone felt scared about flying. After that, movies about flying had to be careful not to be too scary. They either told true stories of people being very brave, like in United 93 or they made silly movies, like Snakes on a Plane.

TV shows like Hijack and Red Eye, as well as upcoming movie Plane starring Gerard Butler, are indicating that Hollywood is no longer restrained by the post-9/11 mindset when it comes to airplanes. Now, planes are being used as platforms for violent and action-packed scenes. However, the portrayal of planes on screen has also drifted away from reality. In the first episode of Red Eye, the character Armitage causes chaos at an airport but in real life, his behavior would likely lead to him being shot or tasered immediately. At the very minimum, he would not be allowed in a pub at Heathrow airport.

Red Eye is not going to be a timeless classic in its genre. In fact, it won't even be as well known as the 2005 suspenseful movie featuring Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams that takes place on an airplane. I have already forgotten about the ITV series before it even finished. However, it is important to note that this show serves as a reminder of how valuable a premise can be. All you need is a plane with two wings, an engine, and a bunch of danger-filled passengers and suddenly you've reached new heights.

You can now watch 'Red Eye' by streaming it on ITVX.