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29 October · 57 days to ChristmasThe advent calendar opens 1 December →
Original painted Christmas scene, from the Cine Claus illustration set

Christmas-adjacent · 2024

Carry-On

15/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 15 ↓
UK certificate 12119 min
Action · Thriller

Die Hard at the departures gate, more or less, and happy to borrow from the best.

On Netflix · UK subscription →
Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 8 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

A different kind of Christmas.

Original painted Christmas scene, from the Cine Claus illustration set

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas is only the occasion.10/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for a scene or two.0/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details1 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.2/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: not at all.0/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

43/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Mixed in tone. Strong threat. A content ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

Netflix

Included with a subscription
Open Carry-On on Netflix (opens in a new tab)

Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab).

The story

About Carry-On

On Christmas Eve, a young airport security officer who feels his life has stalled is told through an earpiece by an unseen blackmailer that his pregnant girlfriend will die unless he waves one dangerous bag through the X-ray checkpoint. With a holiday flight full of passengers at stake, he has to play along while quietly trying to stop the plot, as an FBI detective chasing a separate killing starts to join up the clues.

The CineClaus verdict

Die Hard at the departures gate, more or less, and happy to borrow from the best.

Taron Egerton is a likeable everyman pinned to an X-ray belt while a calm voice in his ear runs the show, and Jason Bateman makes a properly unsettling villain. Christmas is mostly tinsel on the terminal walls and the reason the queues are so long.

Collet-Serra keeps the clock ticking and the plot just about holding. Better as a thriller than as a Christmas film, and it is a good thriller.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

12

Our take: too tense for younger children, with characters shot, stabbed and killed, some of it gory, and a deadly package heading for a full plane, so early teens and up.

Content advice & accessibility
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 12 certificate, and never looser than it.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Close photograph of a smiling man with short brown hair in a cream shirt printed with colourful flowers and swirls.Taron Egertonas Ethan Kopek
Portrait photograph of a smiling man with wavy brown hair, a short beard and tortoiseshell glasses, wearing a tan linen overshirt, in front of a festival backdrop.Jason Batemanas The Traveler
Sofia Carsonas Nora Parisi
Danielle Deadwyleras Elena Cole

Behind the camera

Directed by
Jaume Collet-Serra
Original score
Lorne Balfe
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Taron Egerton · Gage Skidmore · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Jason Bateman · Colleen Sturtevant · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Carry-On. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapLouis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

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Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Location sources

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport · Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more Carry-On

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

A first feature script for a games writer

T.J. Fixman had been a writer on the Ratchet & Clank video game series, and this was his first feature outside it.

Read the story

Source: AOL review ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

Shot in New Orleans and Cleveland

Filming was scheduled from late September 2022 in New Orleans and Cleveland, and New Orleans shooting was still being reported in early January 2023.

Read the story

Source: What's on Netflix ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

Releases and certificates
: On streaming. Netflix released it worldwide on this date as part of its holiday line-up.
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

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Elsewhere on CineClaus

More places to find Carry-On, and a few good reasons to keep exploring.

In this collection

The best Christmas films for adults

Carry-On is in this collection

Explore the collection
Stay for another story.All collections · The Christmas Edit