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Red Eye
DreamWorks Distribution LLC


6.1

based on 36 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 106 votes
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Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence, and language

Starring Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox, Jayma Mays, and Jack Scalia

Wes Craven presents a suspense thriller at 30,000 feet. Lisa Reisert (McAdams) hates to fly, but the terror that awaits her on the night flight to Miami has nothing to do with fear of flying. Moments after takeoff, Lisa's seatmate Jackson (Murphy), menacingly reveals that he is an operative in a plot to kill the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security -- and Lisa is the key to his success. (DreamWorks Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Drama \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Carl Ellsworth (also story)
DIRECTED BY:	Wes Craven
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 10, 2006 Video: January 10, 2006 Theatrical: August 19, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	85 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Will keep you awake, jittery and perched on the edge of your seat for pretty much the entire flight.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The gripping, seat- clutching suspense in this baby will pin you to your seat.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

With so much going for it, it's sad that Red Eye goes into such a third-act tailspin and cliched slasher-flick finale.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

A good measure of the movie's white-knuckle fun comes from Craven's old-hand familiarity with the way thrillers tick.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

May not seem to be your typical Wes Craven movie. It's not really horror, there are no marketable monsters, and unlike "Cursed," "Scream 3" and other recent Craven offerings, it's actually an enjoyable time at the movies.

Slate David Edelstein

A minimalist exercise in maximalist suspense.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

The plot is not absolutely airtight, but Craven's filmmaking is too fast-moving and too involving for this to matter. As a movie, Red-Eye is in every way as well crafted and sharply designed as the Boeing 767 Lisa fatefully boards.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

The casting of the two leads is a nice surprise in Red Eye, as is its modest scale. One of the ironies about the film is that its relatively small-movie feel allows Mr. Craven to focus on the sorts of things - the performances and little bits of business from the extras - that a director like Michael Bay doesn't have time for, partly because he is so busy blowing stuff up.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

When Craven says "Jump!" we all do it at once, and giggle at how easily we've fallen under the spell. The key is that Craven is laughing with us, not at us.

The New Yorker David Denby

Red Eye, which is exactly eighty-five minutes long, has been made with classical technique and bravura skill, and it's leaving moviegoers in a rare state of satisfaction.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Helped enormously by Rachel McAdams, whose performance is convincing because she keeps it at ground level; thrillers are invitations to overact, but she remains plausible even when the action ratchets up around her.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Craven ("Scream," "Nightmare on Elm Street") is already a legend in horror film circles, but this is the first time he has tried his hand at a slick, relatively bloodless suspense-thriller, and the genre suits him.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Favoring precision filmmaking over cheap thrills, with a vibe more Alfred Hitchcock than Freddy Krueger, Red Eye establishes two intelligent characters and lets audiences sit back and enjoy an entertaining battle of brains and wills.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Sitting through Red Eye is like watching a master carpenter at work on a custom bookcase. No one would call the result art, but you're sure bound to admire the sheer craft of the thing, the clean lines and seamless joints and meticulous attention to detail.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The movie is fun, fun, fun.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

In short, Red Eye hits the bull's-eye.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Craven's films aren't showy, but that should never be held against them. In their streamlined construction and rock-solid simplicity lay their brilliance.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

A terrific thriller...until it turns into yet another Wes Craven movie.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Murphy, in the boogeyman role, toggles between seductive and sinister with enough conviction to make you forget that his character makes no sense at all.

Premiere Sara Brady

Red Eye packs only about 15 minutes of solid scary, but really, that’s about all the time a human heart can spend lodged in one’s throat.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

McAdams, who resembles a more compact and subtle Geena Davis, captures both the strength and the insecurity beneath her sharp-witted heroine's aim-to-please facade.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Red Eye has a devilish charm. It pulls just about every nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat trick imaginable, yet gets away with it through what is, admittedly, a clever and original gimmick.

Variety Robert Koehler

Departing less from his horror bailiwick than he did with "Music Of The Heart" in 1999, Wes Craven retains shocks but dispenses with scares in the negligible Red Eye.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Craven's terror-alert white-knuckler is zippy, unpretentious.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

If constructing a thriller could be likened to building a house, then Wes Craven's Red Eye is a perfect piece of architecture: It's clean-lined and soundly structured, without a foot of wasted space or any materials left unused.

Chicago Reader Joshua Katzman

If you're willing to suspend disbelief, this is a pretty good ride.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Craven eschews horror trappings and gore for a well-paced and engaging thriller that keeps the audience involved despite the fact that most of what takes place onscreen is a conversation between two people.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

That's not to say it's great; it's not. Maybe it's not to say it's good, because it's only sort of good. It is to say, however, that it's nifty.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Red Eye's no classic, but with its smart, twisty little script and those two killer performances, it is a helluva lot of fun.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A silly script and uneven pacing.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Unfortunately, Red Eye goes from being a powerful thriller to a far more predictable story of revenge.

Empire Liz Beardsworth

Not the most sophisticated psychological thriller, yet slick fun.

TV Guide Ken Fox

After nearly a decade of duds, Wes Craven reasserts his claim to being a master of suspense with this solid little airborne thriller.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Despite some fast-paced direction by Wes Craven, Red Eye finally gets so silly, it's practically popping its wing-rivets.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

Between them, first-time screenwriter Carl Ellsworth and director Wes Craven don't come up with a single clever way to generate suspense, and the movie's onboard atmosphere is so phony.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

A one-trick action thriller that feels like a poor cousin of an episode of ''24." Call it ''12."

The average user rating for this movie is 6.1 (out of 10) based on 106 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ryan G gave it a0:
This is a terrible movie. Honestly one of the worst films I have ever seen. The acting in the first 15 minutes of the film (save Rachel Adams) is horrific, the rest of the film is not much better. I cannot convey or articulate how utterly bad this movie is in every respect. That it scored a 71 overall with the critics is baffling. Although this site is usually offbase with its scoring of films, the score on this film is criminally overrated. Terrible film, just terrible. I cannot stress this enough. Terrible.

Pat C. gave it a3:
Stays on plot and moves right along. Otherwise it's pretty much disposable.

Deanna gave it a7:
A very interesting movie, with unexpected turns throughout the movie. I was disappointed in the ending, however.

Apocalypse B. gave it a3:
This movie started out so promising; good-looking yet vulnerable women, sinister man and of course a plane! But after a brilliant performance from the cast for the first 30mins, it falls apart into predictable, cheesy, American women can save the world dog poo! The ending was so bad I was actually angry I sat through it. Absolute waste of time and money this film, although the male lead was the only good acting throughout! Avoid!

Peter M. gave it a1:
This movie is terrible. I hated it. So boring, horrible plot, horrible acting, I can't believe the critics loved it. What are they thinking?!

Jeff M. gave it a6:
Based on the positve reviews, this was somewhat of a disappointment. Good cast, but the story just needed some more twists and turns to make it worth sitting through. At least it's short.

Martin S. gave it a7:
Their was nothing special about the story. What made the movie interesting was the role of the feme fatale (Rachel McAdams). The fact that the writers took the time to touch on her athletic past made the role believable. A story done before but well executed.

Red Eye DreamWorks Distribution LLC

Red Eye
DreamWorks Distribution LLC