Netflix action thriller Carry-On conjures airport anxieties of the holiday season
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Taron Egerton in Carry-On.
PHOTO: NETFLIX
LOS ANGELES – For Welsh actor Taron Egerton, the Netflix action film Carry-On pays homage to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers and the on-the-job struggles they encounter, especially during the holiday season.
“Our movie is absolutely a kind of spiritual salute to those guys, so I hope that they feel good about it when they see it,” said the 35-year-old star of the Kingsman action-comedy film series (2014 and 2017).
Egerton stars in the movie as TSA agent Ethan Kopek, who is searching for direction in his life with encouragement from his girlfriend Nora Parisi (Sofia Carson).
Carry-On, directed by Spanish-American film-maker Jaume Collet-Serra (Black Adam, 2022; Jungle Cruise, 2021), also stars Danielle Deadwyler as Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Elena Cole.
The story follows Ethan as he is enlisted by a devious stranger (played by Jason Bateman) to help pass a dangerous package through security and onto a flight that departs on Christmas Day.
Carry-On, the first film spawning from the collaboration between Netflix and Hollywood director Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, is available on Netlfix.
For American actress Deadwyler, 42, the film resonates with anyone who has caught a flight during the holiday season.
(From left) Danielle Deadwyler, Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman and Sofia Carson at a premiere for Carry-On at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood in Los Angeles on Dec 5.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“Christmas is chaos. The airport is chaos. This is a dope experience to bring people back into a kind of nostalgia that they’ve had with past Christmas action films,” she added, comparing Carry-On to the 1988 film Die Hard.
To make their movie more realistic, Egerton and Carson modelled real-life TSA agents and airport workers.
“As part of my prep, I got to shadow a director of airport operations in the New Orleans airport for a few days,” American actress Carson, 31, said.
“It’s not an easy feat to make an airport run or to be a TSA agent.”
Deadwyler echoed this, saying Carry-On goes beyond its action scenes and delves into the humanity of people and the importance of compassion.
“Everybody at the airport needs love, support and compassion for the work that they do, because it’s not just during the holidays that they’re dealing with all of us and all of our anxieties,” she said. REUTERS
Carry-On is available on Netflix.
