User reviews

As a professional pilot I actually cried laughing. Not criticizing the acting or special effects but they really could have used the input of even an amateur pilot.

Horizon Line feels like a one-line plot stretched into a 90-minute film with lead characters that have negligible chemistry between them and not worth caring much for. The only interesting thing about it is that one-line thread - stuck on a plane with the pilot dead. Josh Campbell and Matthew Stuecken previously wrote 10 Cloverfield Lane, a sci-fi thriller (with undertones of horror) that I enjoyed. But the advantage there was the underlying mystery and the solid lead performances. In the case of Horizon Line, we get neither. Keith David as the pilot who dies early on is the only character that showed some semblance of being likeable. The protagonists, played by Allison Williams and Alexander Dreymon, are total whatevers, without fleshed-out stories (or even a solid verbal reason) to back them up.

This implies that the film completely relies on extracting tension due to their current situation alone (that of manoeuvring a plane to safety without a pilot). There's the fuel outage plot-point that drives most of the (outrageous) decisions and stunts in the film. The plot-point is used purely as a stress-inducing device because the characters can't have a regular conversation between them. The only few times they do, they mouth ridiculous lines like "Omg, that must have hurt so much. I can't believe I just did that!". When the performances lack panache, director Mikael Marcimain only has the technical aspects to retain viewer attention. Many of the green-screen shots embedded with CGI look a little off, especially the ones from the exterior of the plane. It's still a watchable fare; one that ought to be seen and forgotten.

Plot

A couple flying on a small plane to attend a tropical island wedding must fight for their lives after their pilot suffers a heart attack.

Cast

Allison "Get Out" Williams leads and Keith David is wasted beyond belief.

Verdict

I'd never heard of this, it's one of those straight to streaming/dvd titles with people on the downswing of their career that goes far under the radar into obscurity faster than you can say "Where's all the rum gone?".

See first of all you'll appreciate that the film does have production values, for the most part everything looks great and the tropical setting initially on the ground is beautiful.

The second thing you'll notice however is your inability to care about our two and their amateur melodramatics dressed up as a love story.

When the action kicks off it successfully builds tension but then absolutely flatlines that with scene after scene that is more absurd than you could begin to comprehend, and requires you suspend even more disbelief than the average Fast & the Furious movie. It's so ridiculous it rips you out of any ability to take the film seriously, it's just silly. I remember years ago watching an episode of Doctor Who a girl shot out the windshield of spacecraft flying through space so the alien would get sucked out, she just grabbed hold of something and held her breath and everything was fine. That's offensively dumb and at the same kind of level of a lot of things that happen in Horizon Line.

It looks great, sadly it's written by a person who failed science class and lacks even the most basic of common sense.

Rants

What exactly was the point of casting Keith David? I know he's a good jobbing actor paying his dues but it seemed utterly pointless. No spoilers here but to be clear he's in the movie for no more than about 5-6 minutes of screen time. What cast him? He's a fantastic actor but it felt like such a waste. They should have given him a bigger role or better yet cast someone lesser known and given them the opportunity. I'll never understand it, it's like casting actors without notable voices in voice acting roles. Just why? Such a waste of money.

The Good

Production values Keith David

The Bad

Some of the sequences are offensively stupid Unlikable characters Keith David is wasted.

Does the movie have some silly parts, yes, but it entertained me for the full 1:30. Not every movie has to be an Oscar contender. Sometimes movies are just meant to be fun, silly, and take you to another place for 90 minutes. This accomplished that.

I stopped seeing my friend after she recommended this movie.

Plane's fuel depot filled 25% after one bottle of booze. And this is just a one ridiculous fact and there is hundreds more. I mean, really???

Yes much of what happens is unbelievable, but so is most everything that happens in a Bond and Mission Impossible movie (and such), but those are generally well-liked, so I think this one deserves some love as well. The actors did an excellent job of portraying the sort of emotion that might go into the circumstance they find themselves in, and the special effects were well done. I have to wonder if Dreymon was filming this at the same time he was shooting The Last Kingdom since his look was similar. I was not familiar with the lead female actress, but thought her performance was very believable.

I was certainly never bored while watching, and there was enough suspense and action to keep the popcorn flowing. For me, this was much better than its rating on IMDB.

The story was totally predictable, but it was a fun ride. I don't know what the other reviewers were expecting....Shakespeare?? I enjoyed it and it had me on the edge of my seat almost all the time....and really Alexander Dreymon....please.

I don't understand why there are so many bad reviews regarding this movie. I thought it was rather good. Simple, but very entertaining to watch. It had me at the edge of my seat throughout the film. Overall, I would recommend it if you want to see a suspenseful, easy to understand action movie without you having to think about it too much that will entertain you for an hour and a half

If you don't care about the characters living or dying what's the point?

Includes some of the stupidest scenes I have had the displeasure of watching.

This is one of those movies where the characters are so dumb and the story is so ridiculous that you want them both to die a horrible death...repeatedly. Whoever wrote this story/script should never be allowed to touch a pen again. Both characters have to go outside a flying plane for one reason and another...and I never knew it was so easy to just "hang on". They also manage to break everything they need on the plane...the compass...the gps...fuel tanks...the autopilot...the rum. As I write this, I again want them to die a horrible death. Avoid this movie at all costs.

Here's how to watch this movie.

You must be very, very high to watch.

At least one other very, very high person must watch with you. Both of you must have an excellent sense of humor.

Talk nonstop about the movie throughout its entirety. Especially consider, and comment on, the acting, dialogue, special effects and editing. But most of all, discuss the actual possibility of ANY OF THESE EVENTS EVER HAPPENING IN ANY SCENARIO TO ANY HUMAN BEING. EVER.

I promise you will greatly enjoy your experience.

Nothing here to stretch your mind. Just good edge of your seat entertainment. Don't expect too much and you will find this very entertaining. The suspense holds right to the end and its not as predictable as you would expect. Its a good one.

This movie is unbelievably lame, and totally unrealistic. As I pilot, I actually laughed several times, so maybe as a comedy it works. In fact, it's so bad I actually walked out of my own house!

A high-flying survival thriller with thrills and spills of the most preposterous nature, Horizon Line is an undeniably daft movie from start to finish, but still provides great entertainment among its most far-fetched moments. Though it starts poorly, the film takes the survival genre to a new level, with captivating action and tension right to the finish, although not quite enough to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.

First things first, if you're going into Horizon Line expecting a nail-biting, intense survival thriller that ranks among the genre's best, you're going to come out sorely disappointed. The film lacks the drama and emotional resonance of a great survival movie, but it does at least entertain with a whole heap of rapid-fire action.

The film's opening act is undeniably weak, as it attempts to craft an emotional back story for the two characters that will ultimately find themselves fighting for survival thousands of feet in the air. Dragging on for far too long and never really stoking much of a sentimental beat, the first twenty or so minutes seem to last an eternity as you wait for some proper thrills and spills.

However, once the fun stuff does get going, it gets going really quickly. The film's entire middle act is as far-fetched as can be, with two characters somehow able to survive in a plane without their pilot through what seems like the most ridiculous series of coincidences. But as preposterous as it is, the pacing and action make Horizon Line a whole lot of fun to watch.

Despite the attempts at drama in its opening stages, once the film settles into its main action, you stop trying to take it seriously and instead enjoy it for the crazy adventure it really is. At times, suspension of disbelief is a challenge, particularly when the characters start hanging on the outside of the plane, but there's more than enough imagination in the film's screenplay to keep it an entertaining watch.

You might find its finale a little bit of a cop-out after a really strong finish, but as far as an action-packed survival story goes, Horizon Line is perfectly good fun.

Where the film struggles amidst all those thrills and spills, however, is in the relationship between its two main characters. After failing to really establish good drama in the first act, Horizon Line never manages to get you to fully sympathise with its two leads as they work together to stay alive up in the sky.

The performances from Allison Williams and Alexander Dreymon too aren't fantastic, with moments of iffy line delivery and a little bit of a lack of chemistry, but most of all a real lack of genuine fear in either of their faces.

Until the very last moments of the film, you'd be hard-pressed to know that the pair were in a life-or-death scenario, with both Williams and Dreymon smiling and laughing far too much throughout, and not putting on genuinely petrified facial expressions.

The movie's high-wire action means that the emotional depth is less of a problem, but I felt like the two leads really weren't doing justice to the situation they're meant to be portraying. Maybe it's just me, but sitting in a plane above the open ocean without a pilot sounds as petrifying a situation as can be.

Overall, though, I still liked Horizon Line. It's by no means a perfect movie, and struggles with a boring and ineffective opening act, ridiculous action, a lack of emotional depth and often disappointing performances from its leads. However, with fun-loving action, fast pacing and impressive visuals, the movie is an undeniably daft but enjoyable watch.

I'll keep it short.

Likely youve seen the other reviews.

The story is laughably stupid.

The acting is atrocious.

And logic / continuity are thrown out the (plane) window entirely.

If you do choose to watch just don't expect all these people telling you to skip it to be wrong.

It's a fun, intense movie. Don't expect more from it and just enjoy the ride.

Throw the dead man out of his own plane but keep the rum 🤣