Netflix’s ‘fantastic’ new action thriller dubbed ‘best Christmas movie of the year’

It is earning comparisons to the first two Die Hards.

The streamer's film is titled Carry-On, with its story playing out on Christmas Eve in an American airport.

Starring Taron Egerton (Kingsman), Jason Bateman (Ozark) and Sofia Carson (Purple Hearts), the plot synopsis for the movie reads:

"Carry-On follows young TSA agent Ethan (Egerton) as he fights to outsmart a mysterious traveler (Bateman) who blackmails him into letting a dangerous package slip onto a Christmas Eve flight."

The film hails from director Jaume Collet-Serra and forms sort of an unofficial trilogy with Non-Stop and The Commuter, his two other transport-related thrillers.

Also featuring amongst its cast Danielle Deadwyler (I Saw the TV Glow), Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), Josh Brener (Silicon Valley), Logan Marshall-Green (Upgrade) and Theo Rossi (Emily the Criminal), Carry-On's plot about an ordinary guy trying to stop a mysterious criminal in a building on Christmas Eve certainly evokes memories of Die Hard.

Although, it's really more like Die Hard 2 which happened to take place in an airport and is also pretty good.

"As if going through airport security on Christmas Eve wasn't stressful enough," Netflix wrote in a post plugging Carry-On's trailer.

And now that the action thriller has dropped on the streaming service, it is earning very positive reviews from critics - already holding an 82% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Jaume Collet-Serra delivers another fun, propulsive thriller, this one set on Christmas Eve and very much in the vein of Die Hard 2. I dug CARRY-ON! Out tomorrow on Netflix:https://t.co/R9admY1zWK

— Meagan Navarro (@HauntedMeg) December 13, 2024

Quite enjoyed CARRY-ON, a Die Hardish yuletide thriller from the director of THE COMMUTER that says you should probably be nicer to the people who work at the airport. https://t.co/NllrL8U50x

— A.A. Dowd (@AADowd) December 13, 2024

You can read a sample of some of these write-ups right here:

Bloody Disgusting: "While much simpler and more intimate in scale than Die Hard 2, Collet-Serra’s talents for taut suspense, tight plotting, and propulsive pacing ensure Carry-On delivers on big holiday thrills and energetic fun."

Collider: "Carry-On is pure escapist fare that you can turn on while sitting next to your Christmas tree, and it has enough energy that you won’t feel the need to check your phone every 10 minutes."

Digital Mafia Talkies: "Carry-On is the best Christmas movie of the year."

The Film Stage: "Carry-On keeps you on the edge of your seat with its myriad turns, always being sure to ground itself in realistic characters who offer the opportunity to question what we would do if presented with a similar scenario."

IGN: "Carry-On has been made in the yippee ki yay spirit of Die Hard, another festive action picture about a fairly ordinary guy rising to meet very extraordinary circumstances. And while this new movie doesn’t quite reach the Nakatomi Plaza heights of that classic, it’s considerably more fun than Die Hard 2, which also happened to take place in a bustling airport on Christmas Eve."

IndieWire: "Jaume Collet-Serra returns to form with a fantastic Netflix thriller... [a] fun and gripping holiday treat."

Carry-On is streaming on Netflix right now.

Read more:

• Kin creator opens up about possibility of Season 3 for the hit Irish crime drama
• One of the greatest action movies of the decade so far is on TV tonight
• The JOE Film Club Quiz: Week 24