Before Cillian Murphy became a household name with his Oscar-winning portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer, he was a relatively unknown actor whose face was becoming familiar to viewers who couldn’t identify him.
Regardless of whether you first encountered Murphy in 28 Days Later or The Wind That Shakes the Barley, it became obvious that something unique was taking place. Today, Murphy is considered a big-name celebrity. However, during the 2000s, he had a reputation as being a little-known actor who appeared in all kinds of movies and gave each one a different performance. A signature role for Murphy during this period was the suspenseful and thrilling Red Eye.
Red Eye is a short, concise, and exciting psychological thriller that provides exactly what you would expect from a typical B-movie in a very limited amount of time.
The film is directed by Wes Craven (starring Rachel McAdams) and has an extremely short running time of 85 minutes, making it one of the quickest films you will experience. The film is honest about its purpose and creates suspense. This honesty is a large factor in the appeal of the film. For those looking for a fast-paced and straightforward film, this is it.
It is available to watch for free with advertisements on YouTube, and is available to stream on Starz and Paramount+. However, availability varies based on location and may change over time.
What makes this movie unique is the dramatic change in tone that occurs during the first part of the film. During approximately the first ten minutes, you will likely think that you have selected the incorrect movie. At times, it appears to be a rom-com at an airport. It stars the female lead from The Notebook, rather than a new thriller being produced by the director of A Nightmare on Elm Street.
After attending her grandmother’s funeral, Lisa Reisert (played by McAdams), a hotel manager, finds herself trapped at an airport due to a delayed flight. While waiting for her flight, she begins to converse with Jackson Rippner (played by Murphy), a handsome stranger. This exchange between Lisa and Jackson is both lighthearted and engaging, and as such, you can easily settle into the idea of watching two attractive actors flirt on a lengthy flight.
In the second half of the movie, Craven takes off. Jackson lets on that the encounter they had was not an accidental meeting. Jackson wants to kill the top guy at Homeland Security, and he is going to get Lisa to switch the official’s room number in her hotel so that he can pull off the assassination. Jackson has also kidnapped Lisa’s dad (Joe) to ensure that she will cooperate with him.
Joe is played by Brian Cox, and the fact that Joe’s life is being threatened is what keeps Lisa where she is. Once Jackson tells Lisa this, Craven doesn’t stop.
Craven had a talent for manipulating the language of film, and in Red Eye, he used this skill to demonstrate how different his style could be from the self-aware horror of Scream. He used attractive actors who were placed into extreme danger.
Craven utilized the plane as much as possible. The small size of the cabin and the high level of security associated with air travel created an environment where the passenger would feel trapped or suffocated, and this feeling of entrapment is as effective as any image he created in the 80s and 90s. Another factor to consider is the time frame in which the movie was released.
Red Eye was released less than five years after the September 11th terrorist attacks, so a thriller taking place on a commercial airplane would naturally cause viewers to be nervous. Craven understood how to take advantage of that nervousness.
What makes this film so unique is that it has such restraint. This film will not have lengthy conversations about family trauma, nor will it use complex metaphors to describe grief. This is not a negative point; rather, the writing, directing, and other crafts are excellent for what the film wants to accomplish. Each scene and sequence is shot and edited in a way that allows the audience to experience them in their purest form.
Even though there are times when the emotional tone increases, the film maintains the focus on Lisa’s situation. This film demonstrates that a straightforward narrative with strong acting, visually stunning cinematography, and a compelling dramatic structure can provide the same level of satisfaction as a high-quality prestige drama.
At the core of the film is the relationship between its two lead actors, both relying on the characteristics that set them apart. McAdams brings warmth, charm, and determination, so her female character in distress appears to be a real person making difficult decisions rather than simply another victim. McAdams will return to similar themes in 2026 with Sam Raimi’s survival thriller Send Help. This indicates that McAdams’ talent for the genre continues to evolve.
In addition, Murphy portrays Jackson as a force of nature capable of speaking his way through almost any challenging circumstance. Murphy is polite and non-threatening up until the point at which he no longer is; the most disturbing scenes are those that do not demonstrate what Murphy shows.
Murphy’s eyes indicate that he has performed numerous deadly tasks and is therefore desensitized to them. Murphy was approximately twenty-eight years old when filming took place, and it is evident that Murphy is fully proficient in his profession.
Furthermore, it should be noted that Murphy worked on other major projects during the same year, including portraying the Scarecrow in Batman Begins; however, Red Eye provided Murphy with a platform to demonstrate that he is the primary adversary.
The rest of the cast also contributes. In addition to Cox, there are Jayma Mays, Jack Scalia, and a younger Kyle Gallner who help create the world of the main confrontation without taking away from it. The script advances the storyline quickly and doesn’t add unnecessary details. Therefore, the film moves along rapidly from beginning to end.
Red Eye was released in 2005. It was a small-scale thriller, and most people thought it would be quickly forgotten, but it received a lot of good reviews. Critics liked the movie, giving it about an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It also had a very reasonable budget and did well commercially. Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers called it “pin you to your seat,” and I think that’s accurate.
One reason Red Eye is still popular today is that we don’t have many of these types of movies anymore. These types of mid-budget, high-concept thrillers that are finished within 90 minutes are becoming less and less common in theaters. And Red Eye continues to be seen by millions of people on streaming services for many years now. In fact, since Murphy’s popularity increased after Oppenheimer, Red Eye has gotten even more attention.
Where To Watch
If you wish to view the film, the simplest option is the free, advertisement-based version on YouTube. However, there are also paid options available via Paramount+ and Starz based upon your location. The film has a running time of approximately 85 minutes, making it a good choice for viewing after dark as it is both short enough to accommodate a busy schedule and intense enough to maintain viewer interest. However, it may be best to avoid watching the film prior to departing for a flight.
