Fight or Flight (2025) – Bullet Train on a Plane

Buckle up and keep your seatbelt securely fastened, because Lucas Reyes is having the worst flight of his life. In this high-octane thriller, a “burnt-out” former agent stranded in Bangkok gets a surprise call from his icy ex-boss, Katherine. The mission sounds simple: escort a mysterious asset named “Ghost” on a flight to San Francisco and get your life back. Of course, “simple” in the world of espionage usually involves a lot more gunfire and a lot less complimentary peanuts.

As soon as the wheels leave the tarmac, Lucas realizes that his fellow passengers aren’t just there for the in-flight movies. The plane is crawling with colorful assassins, all itching to collect the multi-million dollar bounty on his asset’s head. With the help of a surprisingly capable flight attendant, Lucas has to fight his way through every cabin, from economy to first class, in what is essentially Bullet Train with more turbulence and a much higher body count.

Review

If you’ve ever felt like your regional flight was a descent into madness, Fight or Flight (2025) is here to make you feel much better about that crying baby in 12C. This movie is a pure, unadulterated blast of adrenaline that knows exactly what it is: a B-movie actioner with an A-list heart. It’s got that “neon-soaked chaos” vibe we’ve come to love lately, turning a double-decker aircraft into a claustrophobic arena for some of the most creative “situational violence” I’ve seen in years.

The Cast:

• Josh Hartnett as Lucas Reyes: Hartnett is officially in his “action hero” era, and honestly? It fits him like a well-worn leather jacket. He plays Lucas with a perfect blend of “I’m too old for this” exhaustion and “don’t make me use this champagne flute as a weapon” lethality.
• Charithra Chandran as Isha: A total standout. She isn’t just a damsel in distress; she’s a flight attendant who actually knows how to use her environment. Her chemistry with Hartnett is the secret sauce that keeps the movie grounded.
• Katee Sackhoff as Katherine Brunt: Sackhoff does “cold and calculated” better than almost anyone. She spends most of the movie on the ground in an office, but her presence looms over every cabin.
• Guest Stars: Keep an eye out for Marko Zaror and JuJu Chan Szeto as rival assassins—they bring some serious martial arts pedigree to the cramped aisles.

Special Effects:

The effects here are a wild mix of practical blood-splatter and some truly trippy CGI. There’s a sequence involving toad venom (don’t ask, just watch) that results in some hallucinogenic visuals that make the fight scenes feel like a fever dream. While a few of the exterior plane shots look a bit “video game-y,” the internal carnage is top-tier. The way they use fire sprinklers and cabin pressure during the fights is a masterclass in using your set.

Bad Effects/Critique:

While the movie is a joyride, it does suffer from “Sequel-itis.” It leaves a few too many threads hanging at the end, clearly hoping for a franchise. Also, if you’re looking for a deep, philosophical meditation on the soul… maybe skip this one. It’s smart, but it’s “smart-action,” not “Pretentious Indie Film” smart.

Rating: 4.5 / 5 Stars

Complete Synopsis & Plot Breakdown

The story kicks off with Lucas Reyes, a disgraced ex-agent living a bedraggled life in Bangkok after being “disavowed” two years prior. He’s spent his time drinking away his sorrows until Katherine Brunt, his former handler, offers him a deal: protect a hacker known as Ghost on a flight to San Francisco, and his record will be wiped clean.

Once on the plane, Lucas identifies Ghost—who turns out to be a young woman named Isha (or so we think initially). However, the “Ghost” identity is actually a massive digital target. Halfway over the Pacific, the cabin crew and several “passengers” reveal themselves as mercenaries. The lead assassin, a brutal killer named Cayenne, turns the plane into a hunting ground.

The middle act is a series of escalating fights. Lucas is forced to use everything from seatbelts to galley carts to defend Isha. Along the way, he realizes Isha isn’t just a victim; she’s a highly intelligent asset who has been “playing” both sides to ensure her own survival. The “twist” comes when we learn that the agency itself might have leaked the flight details to “stress test” Lucas or eliminate him entirely.

The climax involves a drug-induced hallucination (thanks to that toad venom mentioned earlier) where Lucas has to fight off multiple attackers while barely knowing which way is up. After a brutal showdown in the cockpit and a near-decompression event, Lucas manages to crash-land the plane (sort of) while keeping Isha alive. The ending reveals that Isha has managed to scrub Lucas’s data herself, giving him the freedom the agency never intended to grant.

Photos

(Hartnett looks insane here.)

Trailer

Fun Stuff

Here’s some behind-the-scenes dirt and the best lines from the movie that’ll make you want to check your own luggage for improvised weapons next time you fly.

In-Flight Trivia

• Director’s First Rodeo: This was the feature film directorial debut for James Madigan. He’s usually the guy making things look cool behind the scenes as a VFX supervisor on massive movies like Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Snake Eyes. It explains why the action is so slick even when it’s totally insane.
• No CGI Clouds Here: A huge chunk of the movie was shot on a real, decommissioned double-decker aircraft. That’s why the fights look so awkward and brutal—there literally wasn’t enough room to do a standard “movie punch” without hitting a beverage cart.
• The Hartnett “Ghost”: Josh Hartnett leaned into the meta-humor of his own career for the promo. He broke his long social media silence to post about the movie, joking that he was doing it “before ghosting social media for another 10 years.”
• Easter Egg Audio: Keep your ears open for the Wilhelm Scream. It’s used twice: once during the opening mayhem and again when a poor soul gets “deplaned” at 37,000 feet.
• The Toad Venom Anime: The sequence where Lucas gets drugged and the world turns into a neon anime fever dream was a deliberate stylistic choice to pay homage to the martial arts anime One Piece (especially since co-star Charithra Chandran was cast in the live-action version of that show right after this).
• Chainsaw? On a Plane?: Yes, there is a chainsaw fight. Apparently, the production went through several “safety” chainsaws before finding one that didn’t look like a toy but also wouldn’t accidentally take out a wing.

Memorable Quotes

Lucas (holding a hairdryer and a laptop): “If I die today, I’m being killed by a guy with a ‘World’s Best Dad’ mug. My legacy is a joke.”

Lucas (checking his phone): “Oh great, I’m being called by ‘Absolute Fing C.’ Must be a Monday.”

Katherine Brunt: “There isn’t a country in the western hemisphere that doesn’t have a bounty on the Ghost’s head. You’re the only one I trust to find her.”

Lucas: “Are you telling me that plane is full of killers? Because I’m pretty sure the guy in 4B is just a really angry accountant.”

Isha (deadpan, to a passenger while a fight is happening): “Please remain seated, sir. These people have paid a lot of money for first-class service and I cannot have them disturbed.”

Lucas (after surviving a dose of hallucinogens): “I guess you can’t pickle a pickle.”

Isha: “Start going through the luggage. There must be something in here we can use as a weapon.”