What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that the film focuses on a scary man threatening a young woman, who fights back with ingenuity and some violence. Directed by Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream), it adopts a basic slasher movie structure, with jump scenes, clever framing, and ominous lighting, music, and camera angles: all this can be scary for younger viewers. Characters use harsh language, drink and smoke briefly, and commit various sorts of mayhem (hitting, stabbing with a pen, shooting, slamming with household items, crashing cars, shooting a shoulder-mounted missile).
- Families can talk about the ways Lisa comes up with to resist the terrorist, as she tries to leave messages, get attention from flight attendants, and finally resists (and solicits audience cheers). How does the movie build toward showing her resourcefulness, by first making her seem vulnerable and afraid? As the terrorists threaten family units (not only Lisa's father, but also the family of the Homeland Security Deputy Director), how does the movie use the idea of "terrorism" as an updated metaphorical danger?