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After opening with one of the most terrifying flying scenes I've witnessed, in which an airplane is saved by being flown upside down, Robert Zemeckis ' "Flight" segues into a brave and tortured performance by Denzel Washington — one of his very best. Not often does a movie character make such a harrowing personal journey that keeps us in deep sympathy all of the way.

Washington plays Whip Whitaker, a veteran commercial airlines pilot who over the years has built up a shaky tolerance for quantities of alcohol and cocaine that would be lethal for most people. At the film opens, he's finishing an all-night party with a friendly flight attendant named Katerina ( Nadine Velazquez ) and jolts himself back into action with two lines of cocaine. His co-pilot ( Brian Geraghty ) eyes him suspiciously, but Whip projects poise and authority from behind his dark aviator glasses.

Their flight takes off in a disturbing rainstorm and encounters the kind of turbulence that has the co-pilot crying out, "Oh, Lord!" But Whip powers them at high speed into an area of clear sky, before a mechanical malfunction sends the aircraft into an uncontrollable nosedive. Zemeckis and his team portray the terror in the cabin in stomach-churning style. Acting on instinct, seeming cool as ice, the veteran pilot inverts the plane to halt its descent, and it flies level upside-down until he rights it again to glide into a level crash-landing in an open field.

The field, as it happens, is next to a little church, and the way Zemeckis portrays an outdoor baptism on the ground below captures the hyper-realism with which I imagine we notice things when we think we're about to die. Only six people do die in the crash, and Whittaker is hailed as a hero.

Will this close call bring an end to his drinking? He retreats to his grandfather's farm where he was raised, pours out all his booze and is dry for a time — until he's told by his union representative ( Bruce Greenwood ) and his lawyer ( Don Cheadle ), that blood tests show he was flying drunk. A government hearing is fraught with hazard (he faces a possible life sentence). Meanwhile, he is befriended by a woman named Nicole ( Kelly Reilly ), who he met in the hospital, and she takes him to an AA meeting, but the program is not for him.

It becomes clear that intoxication is more important to Whip than anything else; it cost him a marriage and the respect of his son. One of the most effective things in Washington's performance is the way he puts up an impassive facade to conceal his defiant addiction. "No one else could have landed that plane!" he insists, and indeed tests in a flight simulator back him up. The fact remains that he was stoned.

One of the most gripping scenes takes place in a hotel room where Whittaker is being held essentially under guard for the week before his official hearing. At a crucial moment, his drug supplier Harling Mays ( John Goodman ) turns up, marching toward camera in one of a series of garish Hawaiian shirts, ready to battle a crisis. I don't have any idea if cocaine can snap you back from a killer hangover, but I wouldn't count on it.

Denzel Washington is one of the most sympathetic and rock-solid of actors, and it's effective here how his performance never goes over the top but instead is grounded on obsessive control. There are many scenes inviting emotional displays. A lesser actor might have wanted to act them out. Washington depends on his eyes, his manner and a gift for projecting inner emotion. In the way it meets every requirement of a tricky plot, this is an ideal performance.

Among the supporting performances, Don Cheadle projects guarded motivations, Greenwood is a loyal friend, Goodman seems like a handy medic, and Brian Geraghty's panic in the co-pilot's seat underlines the horror. "Flight," a title with more than one meaning, is strangely the first live-action feature in 12 years by Robert Zemeckis, who seemed committed to stop-motion animation (" Beowulf ," " The Polar Express ," " Disney's A Christmas Carol "). It is nearly flawless. I can think of another final line of dialogue for Whip Whitaker's character ("My name is Whip, and I'm an alcoholic"), but that's just me.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Flight (2012)

Rated R for drug and alcohol abuse, language, sexuality/nudity and an intense action sequence

138 minutes

Denzel Washington as Whip

Don Cheadle as Hugh

John Goodman as Harling

Brian Geraghty as Ken

Bruce Greenwood as Charlie

Nadine Velazquez as Katerina

Directed by

• Robert Zemeckis
• John Gatins

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‘flight’: what the critics are saying.

Audiences may experience turbulence during the thriller, but it's worth it. Critics agree: Denzel Washington soars in his latest role.

By Stephanie Chan

Stephanie Chan

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The plane has landed.

In Robert Zemeckis ’ new film Flight , Denzel Washington plays pilot Whip Whitaker who miraculously lands a malfunctioning plane, saving almost everyone on board. Although the Oscar winner’s character is first perceived as a hero, his problems with alcohol and drugs soon rise to the surface, and his severe addiction could lead to prison time.

The Paramount-released film closed this year’s 50th New York Film Festival and opens in theaters Nov. 2.

Flight  received a score of 83 from Rotten Tomatoes .

PHOTOS: ‘Flight’: Denzel Washington, Robert Zemeckis Touch Down on Red Carpet

Read below for excerpts of the reviews from top critics: 

Todd McCarthy  of The Hollywood Reporter says , “After 12 years spent mucking about in the motion capture playpen, Robert Zemeckis parachutes back to where he belongs, in big-time, big-star, live-action filmmaking, with  Flight . A gritty, full-bodied character study about a man whose most exceptional deed may, ironically, have resulted from his most flagrant flaw, this absorbing drama provides Denzel Washington with one of his meatiest, most complex roles, and he flies with it. World premiering as the closing night attraction at the 50th New York Film Festival, the Paramount release will be warmly welcomed by audiences in search of thoughtful, powerful adult fare upon its Nov. 2 opening.”

The New York Times ’ Manohla Dargis notes , “Mr. Zemeckis is in very fine form in Flight and when he sends a camera whooshing down the aisle of the failing plane, the controlled movement both conveys the contained frenzy of the scene and visually echoes the chill racing along your spine. Here he achieves more than virtuosic display. By something more, I don’t mean the movie’s subject, which is, at its broadest, a tail-spinning alcoholic. Superficially, Flight is the sort of award-season entry that earns plaudits simply because its subjects are sanctified as important, serious. There’s seriousness in Flight , but not self-seriousness. And what distinguishes it is the balance of its parts and how its floating, racing cameras complement the nimble performances, rocking emotions and ups and downs of the story and music alike.”

PHOTOS: Denzel Washington: His Life and Career in Pictures

Huffington Post ’s Marshall Fine comments that, “Rather, Robert Zemeckis’  Flight  is a character study disguised as a thriller. The near-crash is just the beginning of the story — and the story is not what you think. Instead of some dark conspiracy tale, it’s an examination of one man’s struggle with his own demons, brought into stark relief by his situation.”

David Edelstein  of Vulture is a fan: “No actor is as brilliant, or as cunning, as Denzel Washington at portraying superhuman coolness and the scary prospect of its loss. Watch him in  Flight  as airline captain “Whip” Whitaker (excellent name!) as he Hoovers a line of cocaine to counteract a blood-alcohol level that would topple a lesser man and jauntily heads for a plane carrying ‘102 souls’ with the Stones blasting. His responses, in spite of everything, are acute — Whip is whip-smart. Even when out of control, even after he stumbles on the first step to the plane, he flirts tantalizingly, seductively with self-mastery. Despite everything, you think he just might be able to fly as well or better than anyone else. Because it’s all about control. And because he’s Denzel.”

Associated Press ’ Christy Lemire points out “If Flight weren’t so exceptionally crafted and acted, this tale of self-destruction and eventual redemption might feel like the sort of feel-good fare you’d see on the Lifetime Movie Network, or even a 12-step-program promotion.”

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Lemire adds: “Instead, director Robert Zemeckis’ first live-action film since 2000’s Cast Away is by turns thrilling, engrossing and even darkly funny, anchored by a tremendous performance from Denzel Washington. This is one of those Washington roles, like his Oscar-winning work in Training Day , in which he exudes a potent mix of damage and bravado, control and danger, but he’s so incredibly charismatic even as he does bad deeds that you can’t help but root for him.”

Michael Phillips  from Chicago Tribune concludes , “Time has revealed Zemeckis to be something of a classicist despite his obsession with cinematic technology. Washington, whose face in Flight becomes a series of bargains and lies Whitaker tells himself and the outside world, interacts wonderfully with his fellow actors, often with two and three performers sharing the frame for a satisfying length of time. So few directors care about that sort of thing anymore; so few care about choreographing, subtly or showily, the interaction between the camera and the actors without resorting to cutting. ( Steven Spielberg remains vitally interested in this vanishing aspect of the craft as well; see the forthcoming and very fine Lincoln for proof.) Flight is Washington’s show, and he’s marvelous in it. But Zemeckis and his team put everything in place so that Washington could run with it, with unnervingly good results.”

Flight is set to open in theaters on Nov. 2.

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Flight – review

A s Lloyd Bridges says in Airplane!: "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking!" – a declaration he later famously modifies to take in smoking, sniffing glue and doing amphetamines. Before seeing this, I had thought that, between them, and from different directions, Airplane! and the real-time 9/11 drama United 93 had more or less finished off the aeroplane disaster movie. But this flawed yet enjoyable film from screenwriter John Gatins and director Robert Zemeckis proves that it can still be kept airborne, with a little re-invention.

Flight looks very much like a fictionalised true story, based on some New York Times bestseller. Actually, it isn't. Gatins has built his film around a single extraordinary detail that emerged from a real-life US air disaster in 2000: the hair-raising theory that a passenger jet in apparently fatal freefall can be made to level out and go into a safe glide, if the pilot can just pull off one particular, terrifying manoeuvre. To try it, he has to be desperate, and probably very drunk.

There is some terrific white-knuckle tension: but where the genre traditionally puts the high aeronautical drama at the very end, Zemeckis wrongfoots the audience as to where in his film the oxygen-mask-dropping crisis is going to come, and what kind of film it is therefore going to be. As well an airplane-disaster movie, Flight is a solemn and faintly anti-climactic tale of personal growth and moral choices, with some religiose murmurings about survival and fate. The story's central love-interest strand is a bit superfluous (and the movie frankly sags in this area) but its star, Denzel Washington , tackles the juiciest of lead roles with gusto, and the finale is entertaining, when it looks as if our hero's life has once again gone into a screaming nosedive and is about to make what the airline industry euphemistically calls "uncontrolled contact with the ground".

Washington is Captain Whip Whitaker, a highly experienced airline pilot who is also a functioning alcoholic. We first see him in a hotel room on a stopover, and here I thought John Gatins was obeying a law of "sexposition", using sex to spice up exposition scenes. One of these is that when two sleazy guys need to discuss something, they have to do it in a pole-dancing club; another is that when a sleazy guy has to wake up in a hotel room, a naked woman must be getting dressed in the background. Actually, this isn't quite what's happening: Whitaker is having an increasingly serious affair with a stewardess, Katerina Marquez (Nadine Velazquez), and poor Katerina is one of Whip's enablers, the people who cover up his addiction.

Whip has awoken with a massive hangover, so to cure it and generally stay sharp, he takes a python-sized line of coke before heading out to the airport; he struts authoritatively on to the plane (discreetly later than Katerina) and to his young co-pilot's horror, treats himself to an oxygen livener before takeoff. He and his passengers are to face a horrifying situation, but for Whip, matters just keep getting worse. Using some pretty hefty plot tweaks and narrative contrivances, Zemeckis's movie plays out to a watchable conclusion. With the help of a beautiful recovering smack addict Nicole (Kelly Reilly) and his toughly loyal colleague Charlie (Bruce Greenwood), Whip must figure out what he must do to stay true to himself. But it could also be that he might need one final volley of substance abuse courtesy of his unspeakable dealer, Harling, played by John Goodman.

In some ways, Washington is giving us a variant on the character he played in Training Day : the uniformed authority figure with some serious off-the-record habits. There is something in Washington's natural gravitas and bearing which looks fascinating when it is mixed with sin. Washington is also very good at showing how skilled an addict is at "presenting" – at putting on a show of nothing being wrong.

Weirdly, this movie reminded me of an anecdote I heard the veteran performer Thora Hird recount about her father, who told her never to drink before going on stage, and to make a point of telling everyone about this rule. He admitted that she could probably drink a good deal without it affecting her; but the point was that if she made any innocent mistake at all, everyone would say she was a drunk. Poor Whip feels guilty, yet knows that he technically isn't. Maybe the zing of coke and booze even gave him inspiration at the controls on that terrible flight, but of course Whip knows that whatever the truth, his whole life is crashing. Flight is one of those films which starts to come to pieces when you start thinking about it afterwards, but with Zemeckis at the controls, it's a very enjoyable watch. Maybe not in-flight, however.

• Denzel Washington
• Drama films

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By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

First lesson learned from Flight : Never take Denzel Washington for granted. After making his bones with Glory , Malcolm X and The Hurricane , and winning a Best Actor Oscar for 2001’s Training Day , Washington settled into a groove of action films ( Safe House , Unstoppable ). With the exception of 2007’s incisive American Gangster , they relied more on his star power than his acting skills. Flight reminds us of what Washington can do when a role hits him with a challenge that would floor a lesser actor. He’s a ball of fire, and his detailed, depth-charged, bruisingly true performance will be talked about for years.

Washington, 57, plays Capt. Whip Whitaker, a commercial pilot with a jones for hooch and blow, on the job as well as off. His marriage is a casualty, along with his relationship with his only son. Can Whip stay up all night doing drinks, drugs and sex with a hottie flight attendant (Nadine Velazquez) and still make his 9 a.m. flight to Atlanta? He can. Can he sneak vodka on board in an orange juice container and still fly in a blinding rainstorm? He can.

But do you want him to? That’s the big question that Washington, screenwriter John Gatins and director Robert Zemeckis keep working like a wound. After Zemeckis spent the past 12 years experimenting with performance-capture animation ( Polar Express , yikes!), it’s good to have him back in the live-action arena he deserted after Cast Away . Flight is Zemeckis at his most emotionally open and thematically provocative.

It also comes on like gangbusters. In the white-knuckle opener, Zemeckis nails us to our seats as a hung­over Whip dozes, much to the horror of God-fearing co-pilot Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty). The suspense tightens when the jet’s hydraulics fail and Whip – roused from his stupor by a line of coke – must literally turn the plane upside down to make an emergency landing. The raw panic is palpable. But what astonishes is Whip’s unflappable cool, born of a lifetime on the job and, just maybe, Dutch courage. The sequence is a marvel of technical wizardry. But Zemeckis never lets FX crush the story’s human scale. Six lives were lost on this flight. But 96 more were saved because Whip was flying high.

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That is the ethical tightrope that Flight walks with keen intelligence. Whip is cheered as a hero, since 10 other pilots failed to duplicate his feat in simulations. Ironically, that fact enables him to drink more. He’s invincible! Nicole (Kelly Reilly), a recovering junkie, shares his bed and tries to steer him toward rehab. But a shot at going cold turkey leads to the inevitable relapse.

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Whip is a pawn. The airline and the pilots union want a cover-up. A hotshot lawyer (Don Cheadle) is hired to spin reports of Whip’s high-octane blood-alcohol level at the crash site. At a public hearing, the head prosecutor (a superb Melissa Leo, her honeyed voice a lethal weapon) is determined to make someone accountable for those six lives lost. How can Whip get through an interrogation, especially the morning after a killer bender? The same way he landed the jet, with a little help from his dealer friend Harling (John Goodman, vividly funny and scary as a force of Dr. Feelgood nature).

At the hearing, Zemeckis has only to train his sights on Washington as he captures a soul in free fall. You might bitch that Flight levels off after its shocking, soaring start. But you’d be missing the point of an exceptional entertainment that Zemeckis shades into something quietly devastating – not an addiction drama, but the deeper spectacle of a man facing the truth about himself. God isn’t Whip’s co-pilot. His jet even clipped off the steeple of a church on its way down. Whip is a man alone. And all you need to know about him is mirrored in Washington’s eyes. Zemeckis couldn’t invent a digital effect to match an image that hypnotic, that haunting.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Excellent but mature drama about alcoholic airline pilot.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The story shows the difficult struggle of dealing

It's difficult to call Whip a true role model,

The first part of the movie includes a harrowing,

The movie opens with the main character in a hotel

Language includes many uses of "f--k" an

Many brand names of beer and hard liquor are shown

The main character is an alcoholic but denies it t

Parents need to know that Flight is an excellent, albeit mature, drama about an alcoholic airline pilot and the investigation surrounding a plane crash he was involved in. The crash sequence itself is realistic and harrowing, with injuries and wounds. Drinking and drugs are also big issues, as the main…

Positive Messages

The story shows the difficult struggle of dealing with alcoholism -- the main character battles it and reaches a level of sobriety, learning to accept others' help and return their love. His actions and decisions also emphasize the importance of telling the truth (rather than lying to protect yourself) and accepting the consequences.

Positive Role Models

It's difficult to call Whip a true role model, as his struggle falls on the negative side so many times. Throughout most of the movie, he pushes others away, behaves badly, and very often slips back into drinking again. But he earns viewers' sympathy, and when the crucial moment comes, he chooses what's right over his own selfishness.

Violence & Scariness

The first part of the movie includes a harrowing, realistic plane crash sequence in which many people are injured (on-screen) and some killed (offscreen). A stewardess risks her life to save a boy. Characters are seen in the hospital. A secondary character overdoses on heroin and nearly dies; she also goes to the hospital. The main character has many drunken binges that sometimes result in shouting or falling and hurting himself (some blood is shown). There's also some arguing and confrontation.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The movie opens with the main character in a hotel bed with a naked woman. She walks, naked, around the room, for long moments before the scene ends. The main character also appears to be naked but is mostly covered by the sheets. Later, the main character flirts with and kisses another woman.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes many uses of "f--k" and "s--t," plus "d--k," "ass," "damn," "hell," "crap," "goddamn," etc.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Many brand names of beer and hard liquor are shown, including Heineken, Bushmills, Grey Goose, Corona, Stolichnaya, Jim Beam, and more. Some of the brands have requested that they be removed from the film.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

The main character is an alcoholic but denies it throughout most of the film. He has many drinking binges, downing everything from beer to vodka, which usually results in shouting, passing out, and/or hurting himself. A secondary character is a drug addict; she's shown in an early scene shooting heroin and overdosing. After this incident, she stays clean throughout the rest of the movie. In one crucial scene, the main character's friend makes him a special "wake up" cocktail consisting of cocaine and tobacco. Whip also smokes frequently.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Flight is an excellent, albeit mature, drama about an alcoholic airline pilot and the investigation surrounding a plane crash he was involved in. The crash sequence itself is realistic and harrowing, with injuries and wounds. Drinking and drugs are also big issues, as the main character is an alcoholic who frequently binges (sometimes resulting in arguing and/or injuries, some with blood), and a secondary character is a drug addict. There's also a nude scene early in the movie, when the main character wakes up in a hotel room with a girlfriend, and language is strong, with uses of "f--k" and "s--t." Director Robert Zemeckis also made the ultra-popular Forrest Gump , but Flight is more intense in some ways and less age appropriate for younger teens. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (15)
• Kids say (17)

Based on 15 parent reviews

Full frontal gratuitous female nudity from the first second!

What's the story.

Faced with a malfunctioning plane, commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker ( Denzel Washington ) pulls off a spectacular crash landing that saves nearly all the lives on board. Unfortunately, during the subsequent investigation, it becomes apparent that he was drunk while flying. Worse, he abuses alcohol regularly. In the hospital, Whip meets recovering drug addict Nicole ( Kelly Reilly ) and decides to help her out. In the days leading up to a hearing that could cost Whip his job, he tries to stop drinking, but with all the pressure, he finds the urge too strong. Even with all the people in his life trying to help, it all comes down to Whip, who must decide for himself which path to take.

Is It Any Good?

After too many years of gimmick- and special effects-based movies, with FLIGHT, director Robert Zemeckis once again finds the perfect balance between characters and spectacle. (He achieved this in his best films, Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit .) This is also easily the most mature movie of his career. A slightly less talented director would have focused on the heavy issue of alcoholism, but Zemeckis instead uses the suspense of the impending hearing, as well as rich characters and performances ( John Goodman is a particular standout). The balance makes for a far more effective and appealing film.

Likewise, special effects are restricted to the first act only and used to support the characters and themes, rather than the other way around. Moreover, Flight bravely includes many unconventional moments, ranging from powerful, passionate speeches by minor characters to amazing moments with no dialogue at all. Flight is purely a Hollywood film, but it's Hollywood at its very best.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Flight depicts drinking . Why does Whip drink so much? What are the results of his drinking? What consequences does he face? Do they seem realistic?

Why doesn't Whip accept any help from anyone? How can you help a loved one who might be an alcoholic/addict?

How did the violent plane crash sequence affect you? Was it too over-the-top, or did it seem to fit the story? How does a scene like that compare to something in a big-budget action movie? Which has more impact? Why?

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 2, 2012
• On DVD or streaming : February 5, 2013
• Cast : Denzel Washington , Don Cheadle , Kelly Reilly
• Director : Robert Zemeckis
• Inclusion Information : Black actors, Female actors
• Studio : Paramount Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 138 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : drug and alcohol abuse, language, sexuality/nudity and an intense action sequence
• Last updated : May 15, 2024

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Flight — Robert Zemeckis

After nearly a decade of directing expensive mo-cap animated films to variable box-office returns, the 2010s found Robert Zemeckis at a crossroads. The massive critical and commercial failure of 2011’s Mars Needs Moms (which he produced) led to the shuttering of his animation studio ImageMovers Digital by parent company Disney. A long-gestating 3-D animated version of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine almost came to pass, but was eventually smothered in development limbo. For better or worse, Zemeckis’ dalliance with high-tech animation was over (although the lessons he took from an untethered, free-floating camera would inform future projects). In a contemporaneous interview with critic Dave Kehr, Zemeckis details the genesis of 2012’s Flight and how it “came together quickly”: “I read it, and it was really good,” Zemeckis recalled. “And then literally the next day I heard that Denzel had been hovering around it for many years, so I called him. He said, ‘Let’s do it.’” Kehr goes on to explain, “‘in the end Mr. Zemeckis and his crew brought in the film for $31 million, an almost comically low figure for a movie involving major talent and digital effects. […] ‘It was great just to do an inexpensive movie,’ Mr. Zemeckis said. ‘I’m really tired of making these huge, over $100 million movies where they literally mean life and death for a studio. It’s really rough making these expensive movies.’”

Indeed, Flight represents not so much a turning point for Zemeckis, but a kind of brief pause — a temporary reprieve of sorts (not dissimilar to What Lies Beneath , a quickie thriller shot during a break while filming  Cast Away ). A small-scale film focused almost entirely on the human drama between two sharply drawn characters, Zemeckis seems content to tell a straightforward story while still teasing out themes of fate and redemption in the margins, a kind of awkward fumbling toward grace. It’s a film by a man of a certain age, aware that there’s less road ahead than behind. It’s a transitional work for Washington, as well, easing from his action-heavy era into an elder statesman role and coming to terms with his own aging. It’s certainly no coincidence that Zemeckis and Washington, born only two years apart, were both pushing 60 during filming.

Which is not to say that there isn’t a little of the old fashioned Zemeckis razzle-dazzle still there (not for nothing would his next film be the wildly experimental, visually dizzying The Walk ). Flight begins with two separate set pieces that must rank among the best that Zemeckis and his crew have ever designed. Pilot William ‘Whip’ Whitaker awakes in a hotel room to a ringing phone — his ex-wife is on the line asking for tuition money for their son’s school. Whip is quick to anger, clearly still intoxicated from the previous night’s revelry. He drinks the leftover dredges from a bottle of beer and gets his head right with a few lines of blow while the flight attendant sharing his bed gets dressed. They’ve been called into work on short notice, and despite their hangovers it’s business as usual. A rough take-off through a heavy storm suggests that even at reduced capacity Whip is still competent, if perhaps too willing to take chances, while his co-pilot Ken (Brian Geraghty) is a priggish, by-the-book newbie. Washington’s charisma wins the day; the plane breaks through the storm clouds into clear, blue sky, and all seems well. So well that Whip steals a couple of mini-bottles of vodka and takes a nap in the cockpit.

What follows is one of the most visceral action scenes of Zemeckis’ oeuvre, the crash from Cast Away merely a rough draft of what would ultimately come to fruition here over a decade later. The crash here is filmed largely from the perspective of the passengers and crew. Only a couple of brief establishing shots, clearly designed to orient the audience and map out geography, deviate from a human perspective. Instead, we see glimpses of wings and wheels breaking apart from inside the fuselage, the camera peering through port windows as metal rends apart and the passengers are violently bounced up and down. Whip takes control from the auto-pilot and turns the plane upside down so that it can begin gliding instead of plummeting straight down. When all is said and done, only 6 people have died — 4 passengers and 2 crew members. It’s a miracle, except that in the aftermath of the crash first responders drew blood from Whip and have evidence of his intoxication. Curiously, in what at first seems like a perverse interruption of a first-rate special effects sequence, Zemeckis frequently cuts away from the crash to introduce Nicole (Kelly Reilly), a recovering drug addict in the midst of falling off the wagon. Underlining what will become a series of cosmic coincidences — i.e. fate — Zemeckis perfectly frames the out-of-control plane careening through the sky in the background as paramedics wheel Nicole out of her apartment after an overdose. The two finally meet later in the hospital, she recovering from the OD while Whip nurses a concussion and torn ligaments, and embark on a codependent relationship as each struggles with sobriety.

Much of the rest of the film is a series of increasingly complicated, tense interactions where Whip, correctly, insists that no one else could have landed the plane and saved that many people as he did, while nonetheless being hounded by various interested parties who wish to hold him responsible for his dereliction of duty. Like most alcoholics, Whip compartmentalizes his drinking and cannot fathom what it has to do with his performance. Nicole becomes the voice of reason, transforming from enabler to concerned partner who doesn’t want to watch Whip self-destruct. Bruce Greenwood, Don Cheadle, and John Goodman lend their character actor bonafides to supporting roles, each attempting in their own way to save Whip from himself. Flight is one of the great films about alcoholism, Washington almost effortlessly portraying the constant push-pull of being a drunk: one moment he’s emptying out every bottle in the house, pouring booze down the sink and flushing drugs down the toilet, convinced that this time, this time he’ll stay sober, but one scene later he’s buying a jug of vodka and chugging it behind the wheel of his car.

There’s a sneaky moral — even religious — theme coursing through the film, landing somewhere between Forrest Gump , which illustrates the cruel vicissitudes of fate, and  Contact , which makes the debate between secularism and religion into a part of the text itself.   Flight suggests a kind of enlightenment born through suffering while simultaneously rejecting organized religion as a matter of course. Whip visits his copilot in the hospital after the crash and both Ken and his wife are sketched in just shy of being fundamentalists, deeply off-putting in their judgmental hectoring (further complicating matters is that as distasteful as they are, they’re also right to judge Whip). It’s difficult to pin a precise philosophical/ethical framework onto the film — Zemeckis is too cagey for that. Take, for instance, one of the greatest scenes in Zemeckis’ body of work — the evening before a hearing that will determine his future, Whip is sent to a hotel room with an emptied out fridge and a guard posted at the door. He cannot drink or score drugs before the hearing is over. Wiling away the hours in his nondescript room, a knocking noise worms it’s way into his ears. Whip investigates and finds that the door to the adjoining room has been left open. Inside is a fridge full of booze, which he proceeds to consume in a fit of madness. There’s a few ways to read what’s happening here; it could be a plot contrivance, meant solely to juice the film’s climactic courtroom moment (Whip must regain his composure long enough to testify). But it’s also very much an act of God, a bit of divine intervention that finds Whip hitting rock bottom but paving the way for what could only be called his “moment of clarity.” Zemeckis is looking for grace, and damned if he doesn’t find it. There’s not another mainstream Hollywood movie in the last decade that’s even attempting to get to this kind of emotional truth, the sort of thing that Dreyer and Rossellini managed to imbue into their own cinema. Zemeckis might have envisioned Flight as a quick diversion, a simple project to refuel his coffers without demanding too much. He somehow churned out a profound treatise on addiction and forgiveness.

Part of Robert Zemeckis: Movie Magician

• by Daniel Gorman
• Retrospective

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Flight/Risk review – damning indignation that demands to be seen and heard

Amazon Prime Video documentary Flight/Risk was released on September 9, 2022.

I was quite taken with a quickly forgotten film called Worth, a Netflix drama starring Michael Keaton about lawyers trying to put a value on life after the 9/11 tragedies. That film focuses on lawyers as the conduits for the government and airlines working on a settlement, one that will not cripple the airline industry and force the economy into a crisis. By contrast, in Prime Video’s fascinating and heart-rending documentary, Flight/Risk follows the tragedy of two fatal crashes on Boeing Max planes from 2018 to 2019.

The contrast here is that the film looks at the perspectives of the victims’ legal team while folding in the Pulitzer prize-winning story behind the tragedy and the whistleblowers who sacrificed their futures, despite knowing not only one of the world’s largest companies would be against them. However, a government agency decided to defend itself instead of the people they are sworn to protect.

Seattle Times journalist Dominic Gates’s report is chilling at the look over big corporations’ marketing, and the bottom line dictates safety. For instance, Gates paints a picture of how a company like Boeing markets its technology as innovative. Yet, to cut costs, they kept the same Max model. Then, in laymen’s terms, they put a new engine in the same plane design, which caused catastrophic issues. His investigation found education did not consist of flight simulator training but two hours on an iPad. If they do, they will pay them 1,000,000 dollars per plane. Gates then presents jaw-dropping evidence. One where they persuaded Lion Air, responsible for one of the crashes, not to offer their pilot’s simulator training. “I just Jedi mind tricked these fools,” is a quote from a Boeing executive that he found in plain sight.

What Flight/Risk does well is focus the camera on families’ stories. This produces images of agonizing loved ones talking about their family members; what made them special to them, unique to the world, and how they came to an abrupt fate. One is a daughter talking about losing her father on an Ethiopian flight. Two days before, the relatives were told the remaining unidentified body parts of the victims would be buried at the crash site. Can you imagine? The company did not fly the family over. Just a quick notification. As she says to the reporter, she missed her father’s funeral.

Film directors Karim Amer and Omar Mullick tell dozens of stories like this with raw emotion. A film like Netflix’s Worth examines a group of lawyers who started with good intentions and later realized they lost their humanity and found an unconscious bias they did not know they had. These lawyers are being fueled by it. They are fighting for the victims, many being “lowballed” with settlements because of the color of their skin. By adding this socioeconomic element to these stories you are left enraged and wondering why someone born with a large amount of melanin in their skin is literally worth less than someone who was not.

The filmmakers hold our interest by capturing the human side of the matter. We did not expect Flight/Risk to play out as a suspenseful political thriller that smartly presents legal arguments, entanglements, and political views as they are, with archival footage and live recreation of the hearings. All combined with Gates walking us through a labyrinth of damning research by Boeing and the FAA, that is hair-raising.

Flight/Risk has a damning indignation demands to be seen and heard.

What did you think of the documentary film Flight/Risk?

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Article by Marc Miller

Marc Miller (also known as M.N. Miller) joined Ready Steady Cut in April 2018 as a Film and TV Critic, publishing over 1,600 articles on the website. Since a young age, Marc dreamed of becoming a legitimate critic and having that famous “Rotten Tomato” approved status – in 2023, he achieved that status.

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Flight/Risk

Everyday people find themselves in the midst of a global tragedy when two Boeing 737 Max planes crash in 2018 and 2019. Told through the perspective of affected family members, their legal t... Read all Everyday people find themselves in the midst of a global tragedy when two Boeing 737 Max planes crash in 2018 and 2019. Told through the perspective of affected family members, their legal teams, and whistleblowers. Everyday people find themselves in the midst of a global tragedy when two Boeing 737 Max planes crash in 2018 and 2019. Told through the perspective of affected family members, their legal teams, and whistleblowers.

• Omar Mullick
• Dominic Gates
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• Justin Green
• 16 User reviews
• 3 Critic reviews
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Film Review: “Flight/Risk” Is a Powerful Takedown of Corporate Greed

Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed | September 9th, 2022

Flight/Risk (Karim Amer/Omar Mullick, 2022) 3 out of 4 stars.

Founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington, the Boeing Company has since grown into one of the world’s biggest aerospace manufacturers, with its only real rival for market share the European Airbus . It has long been a model of high-tech engineering and business acumen, with especial emphasis on the former, until recently, when the latter imperative began to take prominence. Remember the recent Boeing 737 MAX accidents and ensuing scandal ? They are at the heart of Flight/Risk , the gripping and heartbreaking new documentary from directors Karim Amer ( The Great Hack ) and Omar Mullick ( These Birds Walk ).

In clear, precise strokes, they explain how the once-meticulous company started to take shortcuts in the name of shareholder profits, leading to the launch of the deeply flawed 737 MAX. Worse, many at Boeing knew of the problems with the plane, yet minimized or directly lied about them. The absolute worst facts relate to how the new vessel came with software to correct a navigation issue, and how that detail was never mentioned to pilots, who then found themselves battling a computer program they knew nothing about, leading to a fatal crash.

Amer and Mullick interview surviving family members of the many deceased, their lawyers, and a few whistleblowers, foremost amongst them former senior manager on the 737 MAX development, Ed Pierson. No one currently working for Boeing participated in the making of this film, which means the only statements we get from company executives are via testimony and interviews from other sources. Needless to say, they do not come across well.

And why should they? Dennis Muilenburg, the now-departed CEO, insisted everything was safe, even though it’s clear he knew better. As an avatar of everything wrong with late-stage capitalism, he is the perfect bogeyman, though hardly alone. Steve Dickson, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is not much better, acting more as an agent of Boeing than someone beholden to the population he ostensibly serves. That’s a big sidebar here: the back and forth between government and industry jobs, the line blurring between the gatekeepers and wolves. Thanks to Dickson, the MAX is flying again. Check your next ticket: it could be your plane.

Americans are not the sole protagonists here, given that the two big accidents took place in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Zipporah Kuria, a Kenyan British woman, is a central figure in the drama, fighting for justice (her father died in the second crash and the family only received 30% of his remains). Alongside her is attorney Justin Green, determined, for once, to make sure that foreign nationals (specifically people of color) receive the same compensation as those from the United States.

It’s not the most brilliantly visual movie in terms of its aesthetic. In fact, I would describe it as somewhat pedestrian in its approach to the material. It also traffics a little too much in the style of sensationalistic investigative television documentaries (that music!). I had my hopes up after a beautiful opening overhead shot of the ocean, which was pretty spectacular, and then the film never quite rose to that same cinematic level. I did, however, appreciate the many interstitial shots of cities and suburbs in which the directors always managed to place a plane in the sky, reminding us of the danger.

The story, full of righteous outrage, is what makes it. I recommend the documentary to everyone, even though it will make you never want to fly again. Flight/Risk is, throughout, a powerful takedown of corporate greed.

[9/11/22 Editor’s Note: This article has been corrected to fix an error stating that Zipporah Kuria is of Ethiopian background, rather than Kenyan British. We regret the error.]

Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Christopher Llewellyn Reed is a film critic, filmmaker, and educator, as well as Film Festival Today 's Editor. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society ( OFCS ) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association ( WAFCA ), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic , Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice .

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• ‘The Apprentice’ Review: Sebastian Stan And Jeremy Strong Soar As Young Donald Trump And His Ruthless Mentor Roy Cohn In Devilish Origin Story – Cannes Film Festival

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Don’t be confused about the title The Apprentice . This is not a movie version of the NBC reality TV series in any way, but instead a smart, sharp and surprising origin story of the man who hosted it. In this case the actual “apprentice” is Donald Trump , infamous real estate developer, former President of the United States and current presumed GOP nominee for 2024.

Trump and Cohn would become an odd couple, helping each other achieve their end goals at the time. That is the story of The Apprentice , which had its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday and still has its U.S. distribution rights for sale.

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Will it sell, and will it be released before November’s election? We shall see, but this is not a hit job on Trump, and actually considering the 77-year-old we see today at MAGA rallies and dozing off in courtrooms defending his indictments on various charges including starting an insurrection to overturn the 2020 election. Instead, it presents a person somewhat driven but awkward, a man striving for the approval of a tough-love father, unsure but determined to succeed and even oddly charming at times. Yes, I said that. Cohn, responsible for helping Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s reprehensible anti-communist crusade in the ’50s as well as putting away convicted spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, was the man pulling the strings — until he wasn’t. Think of it as a twisted Pygmalion with Cohn tutoring and training Trump the way Henry Higgins did with Eliza Dolittle.

The latter was the one Cohn emphasized above all as the most important thing to remember. He also told Trump no one likes a loser. “Everyone wants to suck a winner’s cock,” he tells Trump, who convinced his cold-hearted father Fred Trump (Martin Donovan) that they needed a lawyer like Cohn to take on a case the DOJ had launched over their housing developments (after being indicted for discriminating against Black tenants). In his own inimitable way he got the government to settle with no fines, thus endearing him to Donald. “You have to be willing to do anything to anyone in order to win,” Cohn says.

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The lawyer even dresses his mentee, who was born in Queens; not exactly the right breeding ground. “Is this gonna be a guy from Flushing or 5th Avenue?” he asks, getting an affirmative on the latter. He then puts him on the phone with a New York Times society columnist, and the result is a puff piece comparing his looks to Robert Redford and marking him as an up-and-comer. One of the key Cohn lessons is always chase the press, be in the newspapers every day.

Trump started moving up the ladder, with Cohn bringing him to a party with Rupert Murdoch, George Steinbrenner and others, cheekily (and now ironically in hindsight) telling him, “If you’re indicted, you’re invited.” Cohn himself had been in major legal hot water for tax evasion and also handled shady underworld characters, but he knew how to help Trump’s dreams of finishing Trump Tower come to fruition, essentially rigging a planning commission meeting to get $160 million tax abatement for which Trump was begging.

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Separately, he introduced him to a friend, Roger Stone (Mark Rendall), whose “specialty” is dirty tricks and who touts candidate Ronald Reagan’s campaign slogan “let’s make America great again” (a slogan Trump would later steal as his own when he ran for president). And when the top of the still unfinished first-ever all-concrete hotel in NYC is set on fire, Cohn brings Trump to a meeting with some of his mob clients who deliver Trump a come-to-Jesus moment demanding the “f*cking concrete guy” gets paid. Trump is shown already as being notorious for not paying his construction workers.

The film shows his darker side, that scene included, as he is changing, becoming more ruthless himself — even to Cohn, by double crossing his lawyer whose partner has contracted AIDS and needed help in getting a room at the Hyatt; Trump reluctantly agreed but later sent him a bill. Soon Cohn himself contracts AIDS, but they make up when Trump comes to his birthday celebration with a gift of “diamond” cufflinks that say “Trump” on each one. Ivana later tells Roy they were fake.

This exceptionally well-researched first screenplay by Gabriel Sherman, who had profiled Trump for various publications and thought the Trump-Cohn story would make a good movie, has turned out a tale that is essentially a Faustian deal between the two. Although they have both been described as monsters in different circles, they are really given an empathetic treatment here, at least in part, and at least in an attempt to show us what led to historical change in America, and what may well continue in a story whose end has yet to be written.

Trump has never seemed so, well, human, as his own early years show a man trying desperately for his father’s approval while at the same time trying to come out from under his shadow. Progressively the two-hour film shows him doing just that, but also losing some of that humanity in the process. I wouldn’t describe the portrait as flattering, but it is not a hatchet job — perhaps part of the reason is a foreign director who didn’t even know Trump before he came down those stairs to announce his presidential bid in 2015. The goal is to show the makings of that man, not who he would later become – no matter what your opinion of that man is. I have a feeling his base of voters, the ones he dug up from under a rock, might look at these early years and give their approval, warts and all. Ironically though the first image in the film is that of Richard Nixon swearing “I am not a crook.” What the filmmakers’ intention with that choice is certainly intriguing.

Stan eases into the role, suggesting the young Trump without venturing into an SNL -like impersonation. He captures him precisely and believably throughout. Cohn has been portrayed in other projects like Al Pacino did in Angels In America, but Strong is ideal casting, going all in and delivering a three-dimensional portrait of this complicated man. Bakalova is excellent in her few scenes, as is Donovan as father Fred who early on tries to explain he is not racist. “How can I be racist when I have a Black chauffeur?” he asks at the dinner table while berating his sons. Charlie Carrick as Trump’s older brother Fred Jr. is also very fine, showing a man who just couldn’t live up to his father’s expectations. Scenes between the two siblings show Donald has at least some empathy.

Special notice to Sean Samsom’s seamless hair, makeup and prosthetics work here which never brings attention to itself.

Producers are Daniel Bekerman, Jacob Jarek, Ruth Treacy and Julianne Forde, Louis Tisne and Abbasi.

Title: The Apprentice Festival: Cannes (Competition) Director: Ali Abbasi Screenwriter: Gabriel Sherman Cast: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan, Charlie Carrick, Mark Rendall Sales agent: Rocket Science Running time: 2 hr

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This Star Trek Movie Has The Highest Rotten Tomatoes Score In The Franchise

Rotten Tomatoes is the final film frontier for any movie that wants to get a good reception. For the most part, whether it's because of the captain or the crew they're commanding, the "Star Trek" adventures have been met with favorable receptions from audiences and critics alike. Of all the big-screen entries that have taken to the skies, though, it's J.J. Abrams' initial outing that stands as the highest-rated movie on the review aggregator site.

Beaming in with an impressive 94%, the 2009 film, which sees a new cast take over the Enterprise and makes the Romulans bald , is top of the "Star Trek" movie list. Rotten Tomatoes ' critical consensus reads, "'Star Trek' reignites a classic franchise with action, humor, a strong story, and brilliant visuals, and will please traditional Trekkies and new fans alike." The praise lines up with the film's box-office receipts, which earned a domestic opening of $75 million, the highest for a "Star Trek" movie.

Unsurprisingly, the film was followed up with two sequels: "Star Trek Into Darkness" in 2013, which surpassed it at the worldwide box office, and "Star Trek Beyond" in 2016 ( the "Star Trek" film that left Chris Pine with a real black eye ), which trailed slightly behind it across the globe. The success ensured that there was still enough energy in the engine room for a fourth entry to go into development, albeit one that has yet to come up on the scanners, including those of Pine himself.

Chris Pine wants back in the captain's chair for Star Trek 4

Ever since the relatively modest success of "Star Trek Beyond," a fourth installment for the crew of the Kelvin timeline has always been on the cards, but developing it has been a mission in itself. For James T. Kirk actor Chris Pine, it's as much of a waiting game as it is for fans. Speaking to Business Insider this month, Pine admitted he did not know the state of "Star Trek 4": "I honestly don't know. There was something in the news of a new writer coming on board. I thought there was already a script, but I guess I was wrong, or they decided to pivot. As it's always been with 'Trek,' I just wait and see."

The new writer in question is Steve Yockey, who was brought on in March and whose credits include penning episodes for "Supernatural" as well as writing "The Flight Attendant." Those credits alone make for an interesting collection of out-there ideas that could make him a good fit in the world of "Star Trek." Just what story details that will include is unknown. For some time, it was rumored that Kirk would travel back in time and find himself on an adventure alongside his own father, who in this era is played by Chris Hemsworth. Seeing the two together on screen would certainly make for a monumental entry in the franchise, but for now, the Enterprise will have to remain docked until anything else develops.

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Shia LaBeouf’s new film debuts with terrible score on Rotten Tomatoes

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Megalopolis, starring Shia LaBeouf and Adam Driver , debuted at Cannes Film Festival to harsh reviews and a tragically low review score.

The epic sci-fi film is set in an alternate modern-day New York where architect Cesar Catilina ( Adam Driver ) dreams of building the city into a utopia but his ambitions are challenged by Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito).

From acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola , the ‘Roman Epic fable’ has been in the early stages of production since the 1980s. Coppola’s $120million (£94million) passion project finally had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival.

Despite the forty-year process, the crude, vulgar, at times incestuous, and fast-paced extravaganza seems to have landed far from perfection.

According to festival reports, the film received a seven-minute-long standing ovation with a mixture of applause and booing.

It initially debuted on the official film review site Rotten Tomatoes at a mere 38%, before slowly climbing to a controversial 50% at the time of writing.

A shockingly low score for a film packed with star talent including LaBeouf, Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman.

The Metro.co.uk review dubbed it ‘one of the worst films I’ve ever seen’ , adding: ‘Megalopolis is by far the most startling, grand and at times incomprehensible film that [Coppola has] made.’

This is a sharp departure from the fan hype around the film after the trailer dropped earlier this month in which Megalopolis was called ‘already the greatest movie ever made’ and his ‘best work’.

This is the first feature-length project LaBeouf has appeared in since his lead role 2022 biopic Padre Pio as the titular Italian priest.

In the film the 37-year-old Hollywood actor stars as Cesar’s antagonistic cousin Clodio, known for sleeping with his sisters. He takes up his own offensive against the architect, cleaving the city’s inhabitants even further apart.

The decadent, ancient Rome-inspired romp has a bitterly divided reception.

The Times offered up a measly one-star review , labelling the film a ‘head-wrecking abomination’.

‘This is 138 stultifying minutes of ill-conceived themes, half-finished scenes, nails-along-the-blackboard performances, word-salad dialogue and ugly visuals all seemingly in search of a story that isn’t there,’ the reviewer concluded.

The Daily Beast described the production as ‘stilted, earnest, over the top, CGI ridden, and utterly a mess’ ultimately destined to become a ‘cult classic’.

Meanwhile, the Guardian slammed Coppola’s vision , describing it as a ‘passion project without passion’.

The review continued: ‘[it’s] a bloated, boring and bafflingly shallow film, full of high-school-valedictorian verities about humanity’s future.’

Many reviewers seemed just as conflicted as the down-the-middle Rotten Tomatoes score.

‘Is it a good movie? Not by a long stretch. But it’s not one that can be easily dismissed, either,’ Hollywood Reporter posed .

While the Los Angeles Times concluded that once the audience let go of another Coppola ‘masterpiece’ (such as the Godfather Trilogy), ‘there is much to enjoy in Megalopolis, especially its cast members, leaning into their moments with an abandon that was probably a job requirement’.

There were a handful who thoroughly enjoyed the movie. ‘He’s done it again, and perhaps exceeded himself. Megalopolis might be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,’ Vulture remarked .

Despite the poor score given the eye-watering budget, the 85-year-old director has no regrets about splurging hundreds of millions of dollars.

‘I don’t care. I never cared,’ he said. ‘I put the risk in the movie. I have no problems with the financials.

‘My children, without exceptions, have wonderful careers without a fortune. They don’t need a fortune.

‘It’s how I felt the film should be, and I was paying for it…. There are so many people who, when they die, say, “I wish I had done that.” When I die, I’ll say, “I got to do that”.’

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Box Office: John Krasinski’s ‘IF’ Debuts at No. 1 With Soft $35 Million

By Rebecca Rubin

Rebecca Rubin

Senior Film and Media Reporter

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Not exactly the opening weekend that dreams are made of.

Popular on Variety

Krasinski wrote, directed, produced and stars in “IF,” which follows Brooklyn-dwelling neighbors Cal and Bea (Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming) with the ability to see other people’s imaginary friends (IF, for short). Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph, Emily Blunt, Bradley Cooper, Jon Stewart and George Clooney round out the star-studded voice cast of IFs. Reviews have been mixed (it has a 50% on Rotten Tomatoes), with  Variety’s  Tomris Laffly  calling it “a sweetly old-fashioned yet messily conjured children’s tale that sadly falls short of its thematic ambitions.”

“The early summer lineup is subdued. The industry is waiting for an over-performer to beat expectations and break out,” says David A. Gross of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “We continue to trail pre-pandemic box office levels by a wide margin, and comparisons are not going to get easier as we move into the heart of summer.”

Another newcomer, Lionsgate’s eerie horror film “The Strangers: Chapter 1,” opened in third place and beat expectations with $12 million from 2,856 theaters. The movie, which was targeting a start of $7 million to $9 million, cost $8.5 million so it’s well-positioned in its theatrical run. Though not terribly surprising for the genre, “The Strangers” was panned by audiences and critics, who saddled the film with a “C” CinemaScore and bleak 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Never mind reviews. Lionsgate intends to turn “The Strangers” into a standalone trilogy — separate from the studio’s 2008 thriller of the same name, starring Liv Tyler — with Chapters 2 and 3 to follow. The first installment centers on a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez), who are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin after their car breaks down in an eerie small town. Naturally, they are terrorized by masked strangers with seemingly no mercy or motive.

“[Chapter 1] is going to be profitable, and it gives the series something to build on,” says Gross.

Also new to theaters is the Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black,” which landed at No. 5 with a dismal $2.85 million from 2,010 venues. It’s a terrible start for any movie that’s playing nationwide, though Focus Features acquired the film in the U.S. and several international territories for less than $20 million. “Back to Black” has already grossed $37 million overseas.

Moviegoers were fonder than critics of the movie, which holds a “B+” CinemaScore and 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. Sam Taylor-Johnson directed the R-rated “Back to Black,” an intimate look at the life and career of a destructive musical genius. Marisa Abela plays Amy Winehouse, the British singer-songwriter who catapulted to fame with hits like “Back to Black” and “Rehab” and died of alcohol poisoning in 2011 at age 27.

Meanwhile, last weekend’s champion “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” slid to second place with $26 million from 4,075 theaters, a decline of 55% from its debut. So far, the fourth chapter in the Disney and 20th Century’s “Apes” reboot franchise has generated $100.9 million domestically and $237 million globally.

Elsewhere, Amazon MGM’s documentary “The Blue Angels” captured a solid $1.325 million from 268 Imax screens globally — averaging $5,774 per location. J.J. Abrams and “Top Gun: Maverick” star Glen Powell produced the non-fiction film, which is only playing in Imax and chronicles a year in the cockpit with one of the world’s top aviator teams — the Navy and Marine Corps flight squadron — through their intense training and aerial touring show. 

Also in limited release, Neon’s comedy “Babes,” from director Pamela Adlon,” collected $171,321 from 12 venues — translating to $14,277 per location. Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau lead the film as two 30-something best friends who guide each other through pregnancy and motherhood. It’ll continue to expand in the coming weeks.

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