7500

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Omid Memar, Aylin Tezel, Carlo Kitzlinger

Director: Patrick Vollrath

Captain Michael Lutzmann (Carlo Kitzlinger) and his American Co-pilot Tobias Ellis (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) prepare for takeoff for their flight from Berlin to Paris. Shortly after they are in the air, as a flight attendant brings the pilots their meals the cockpit is rushed by four Islamic terrorists who have fashioned weapons out of broken glass and bottles. One makes it in to the cockpit but Tobias is able to subdue him and tie him up, although not before Michael has been fatally wounded and Tobias himself injured. As the other terrorists outside try to break into the cockpit and begin to threaten to harm passengers, including Tobias' air hostess girlfriend Gökce (Aylin Tezel), Tobias must stay calm amid the mounting pressure and remember that under no circumstances can he let the cockpit be compromised.

Single location movies are often hard to pull off because they often rely on an unrealistic or unbelievable gimmick to keep the duration of the film set there. On the occasions they do work, 2010's thriller Buried starring Ryan Reynolds or 2014's drama Locke starring Tom Hardy spring to mind, it's a very grounded approach that has a very capable actor to do a lot of the heavy lifting. We can now add 7500 to this list, and let me tell you it's a roller coaster ride!

It's amazing how far first time director Patrick Vollrath is able to ratchet up the suspense with such a simple premise. Set entirely in the cockpit of the plane, we get thrown into it pretty much from the get go and never get a chance to catch your breath. We haven't had a hijacking thriller that focuses solely on the pilots before, probably because it is harder than one would think while maintaining the tension of the story. Despite little time for character development, the script is tight, the characters are believable, and the tension never lets up. Really the only aspect of the film that didn't work with me was the subplot with his girlfriend Gökce. There is nothing necessarily wrong with it but we are given no time to really care.

This wouldn't work without Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who gives one of his best performances as the besieged co-pilot Tobias. Even when chaos is unfolding, he knows what his job is and is believably competent despite being under relentless pressure. Equally as good is Omid Memar's conflicted hijacker Vedat. He and Gordon-Levitt share the second half of the film together and he brings some refreshing humanity to Vedat. It shouldn't work as well as it does.

Between this and The Vast of Night, Amazon has been acquiring and distributing some solid thrillers as of late. While I wish I could have seen this in a theater, this is a can't miss claustrophobic nail-biter with fantastic performances.

Grade: A-

7500 is available on Amazon Prime