I usually try to watch a top Netflix original movie that has reasonably good reviews, and this weekend it was Carry-On, a new thriller starring Taron Egerton, of Kingsman fame, with a great role in Black Bird and Jason Bateman of Arrested Development starred villain, which may seem like an odd choice, but watch The Gift and you’ll understand. Also check out “Carry-On.”

This is a really gripping thriller. The concept of a TSA agent being blackmailed into letting a potentially dangerous package through security doesn’t sound particularly interesting at first, and this cast could have gone either way. But the 86% critic score intrigued me, and in the end I definitely agree with it. The not-so-good 60% audience rating is just wrong, sorry.

Egerton has a great role here as a laid-back TSA agent who realizes he should get his shit together now that he’s expecting a baby, but on the first day he makes the case to become a promoted “pocket scanner” instead of a line guard , this quickly becomes a problem.

Jason Bateman’s mysterious “traveler” comes to him via a secret earpiece, immediately learns information about him from his support team and threatens to kill his pregnant girlfriend if he doesn’t do what’s necessary. The idea is to allow a package through security regardless of the flags it raises. Egerton doesn’t know what’s inside and I won’t tell you here, but as you might expect, it’s not full of stuffed animals.

This all starts pretty much on the ground, with Egerton having to navigate everything from just a few square meters away in front of the scanner. But things quickly escalate from here and this film goes to wild places you wouldn’t expect by the end. It reminded me a bit of trap, close-quarters thriller action (though without serial killers involved).

Luckily, Jason Bateman is more than just a guy on the phone and actually has a significant physical presence in the film as he manipulates Egerton into carrying out his plan. At an age where I can fall asleep early because I’m dealing with a toddler all day, I was wide awake for the duration of Carry-On and highly recommend it. I wouldn’t call it a “family” film as it does get quite violent, but it manages to stay within the boundaries of PG-13. But that doesn’t make it feel restrained in the least.

It’s Trap meets Phone Booth, mixed with maybe a little Die Hard. Maybe not an instant classic, but honestly the best Netflix original I’ve seen since Rebel Ridge. Try it.

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