Three Current Netflix Thrillers—Three types of Cinemas
For those who take their cinema thrillers as not their go-to choice, once the Oscar nominations have been announced, those cinephiles can relax with the variety that Netflix has always offered. Thrillers in general often luxuriate in lush photography and mediocre characterization, much less nuanced plots-- in other words, relaxation from the rigors of explicating art films or high-class story lines with at least a modicum of allegory.
This time around I randomly chose three Netflix offerings: Flight Risk, Carry-on, and Ad Vitam. In their order they represent the silly suspense, the hitting-home intrigue, and the European style-mix of dangerous operations and people-vulnerable. Depending on your delights, the first is pure escapism, the second a caution about safety, and the third a treatise on the risks of protection and trust in the professional class.
It is no stretch to say that thrillers in general on Netflix are sanitized to be acceptable to the public: violence indulges in minimal blood and sex just as the nuns would have it—mostly palatable to adult family members spending a relaxed Oscar-negligent evening. With that rather Puritan approach, Netflix offers a buffet.
Flight Risk, directed by Mel Gibson (yes, he won a directing Oscar for Braveheart and mixed acclaim for The Passion of the Christ) and starring Mark Wahlberg, is a light-hearted suspense in a small plane involving a transported witness, his US Marshall, and a deranged pilot. Not only are the graphics cheesy—the plane looks superimposed in the sky, but plot points such as the Marshall (Michelle Dokery) ignoring the tied-up villain (Wahlberg), and the witness (Topher Grace) wisecracking as if it were a comedy, rob the film of a consistent tone giving three face of imminent death.
A step up in sanity is Carry-on, about at TSA agent (Taron Egerton) blackmailed by a bad-boy (Jason Bateman ) to clear a package through the screening process. The audience can identify the dilemma for the TSA guy as his girl-friend’s life hangs in danger if he doesn’t accept the bribe. What Netflix gets right is the plausibility, given the potential of this transport at least in the minds of all vulnerable passengers riding a tube in the sky. Bateman plays a mild-looking but potentially lethal operative. The suspense is just right, albeit some unbelievable stunts for an agent or anybody not an acrobat.
Finally, a competent thriller from France, Ad Vitam, where a highly-trained special forces cop and his equally-skilled wife face off against former agents who have pulled a heist and get mixed-up with him and his team. The cinematography is moody European and the sensibilities true to loves who happen to be together in a most dangerous occupation and game. Even the dubbing is first-rate.
So there you have it—three levels of competent thriller on Netflix. The platform provides variable experiences with just enough blood, guts, sex, and thrills for the whole adult family—yet, don’t ask for more reality. You’ll have to go to your local cinema for a different intellectual and artful cinematic experience.