Flight Risk is a 2025 American action thriller film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, and Topher Grace. Its plot follows a pilot (Wahlberg) transporting an Air Marshal (Dockery) and a fugitive (Grace) across the Alaskan wilderness, where the identities and intentions of those onboard come into question.[5]
Flight Risk was released in the United States by Lionsgate on January 24, 2025. The film received negative reviews from critics and has grossed $31 million worldwide.
Plot
Madolyn Harris, a U.S. Marshal, arrests an accountant named Winston while he is hiding out in a remote part of Alaska after turning informant against his former employer, the Moretti crime family. Madolyn charters a small private airplane to take them to Anchorage so they can transfer to New York City, where she intends for Winston to testify against the Morettis. The plane is piloted by Daryl Booth, a Texan living in Alaska, who explains that the vehicle's radio is broken.
While manacled in the middle of the plane, Winston spots Daryl's pilot licence under the seat in front of him, noticing that the photograph is a different person to "Daryl". He tries to warn Madolyn, who has a headset on and cannot hear him. After a brief conversation with Madolyn, the pilot's accent slips, revealing himself to be a hitman using Daryl's identity with orders to kill Winston. Madolyn manages to subdue him with a taser, and takes over piloting the plane.
Using her satellite phone, Madolyn manages to explain the situation to her direct superior, Caroline Van Sant. Caroline tells her that Winston must be kept alive at all costs if the Morettis are to be brought to justice. It is revealed that Winston had skimmed one million US dollars from the Morettis during his time working for them. Caroline tells her that the real Daryl Booth had been tortured to death by the pilot, and that she will arrange for another pilot to call her to help navigate them to safety. Madolyn begins to grow suspicious of Caroline when she seems reluctant to send help directly, so she gets in touch with Director Coleridge to explain her suspicions. However, Coleridge gives himself away as being on Moretti's payroll when he mentions his beach house, as Winston recognizes the address from a past payment he made for Moretti, putting Caroline's life in danger.
The pilot wakes up, shackled to the overhead rack, and taunts Winston, promising to make him suffer, as well as to kill his mother, whose address he knows. He also reveals that Madolyn had been put on desk duty for several years after her neglect had caused the death of a witness in her custody during her last field mission; Madolyn handcuffed the witness in a bathroom while she was taking a shower before the hotel was firebombed and Madolyn fled while forgetting the witness.
Hasan, a pilot on the ground in Anchorage, calls Madolyn and teaches her how to use the controls of the plane; his tactic to keep her calm is to charm her and promise to take her for a drink when they land safely. The pilot manages to free himself from his handcuffs and attacks the pair. He stabs Winston twice, and strangles Madolyn with the seatbelt. She is about to pass out when Winston removes the knife from his chest and cuts the belt, allowing Madolyn to shoot the pilot with a flare gun, incapacitating him at the back of the plane. When Coleridge calls Madolyn and tells her that Caroline has been killed in a car accident, she vows to bring him down alongside the Morettis.
With Winston now in dire need of medical attention, Hasan guides Madolyn into landing the plane as quickly as possible by burning through their remaining fuel supply. On the approach, the pilot regains consciousness and attacks, but is shot by Madolyn, and is thrown from the plane to his death during the landing.
Winston is rushed into an ambulance by the ground crew as Madolyn is greeted by a smiling Hasan. However, Madolyn notices a suspicious-looking police officer entering the ambulance, following and shooting him dead as she catches the latter trying to asphyxiate Winston. Madolyn picks up the corrupt officer's phone and tells Coleridge, who was on the other end giving the order, that he will be going down for a long time. Madolyn shares a smile with Winston as the ambulance leaves for the hospital.
Mark Wahlberg as the Pilot / "Daryl Booth", a hitman disguised as a Texan pilot.
Topher Grace as Winston, an accountant-turned-informant.
Leah Remini (voice) as Caroline Van Sant, Madolyn's superior officer.
Paul Ben-Victor (voice) as Director Coleridge, the agent in charge of the operation.
Maaz Ali (voice) as Hasan, a pilot who guides the plane from the ground.
Monib Abhat appears on-screen as Hasan
Production
In December 2020, Jared Rosenberg's screenplay Flight Risk was voted onto the year's "Black List" of the most-liked unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.[6][7] In May 2023, it was reported that Mel Gibson would direct and Mark Wahlberg would star.[8] In January 2024, Topher Grace and Michelle Dockery joined the cast.[9]
The film is a co-production between Icon Productions and Davis Entertainment Company. It was produced in association with Media Capital Technologies (a film financing company[10]), Hammerstone Studios and Blue Rider Pictures.[11] Gibson directed and produced the film along with Bruce Davey, John Davis, and John Fox.[11]
Flight Risk was released in the United States by Lionsgate on January 24, 2025.[16] It was originally set to be theatrically released on October 18, 2024.[17] Lionsgate spent around $20million on promoting the film. Social media analytics firm RelishMix reported that online marketing led to 79 million interactions across social media platforms, 40% behind the average for action-thrillers, with online users expressing "negative leaning chatter" given the film's January release.[18]Variety noted that Lionsgate held the film's review embargo until Thursday preview screenings in anticipation of negative critical reviews but that the studio was "likely in an alright enough position" because it "typically covers financial risks by selling off foreign rights to its films before release."[19]
Reception
Box office
As of February6,2025[update], Flight Risk has grossed $22.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $9.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $30.7 million.[3][4]
In the United States and Canada, Flight Risk was released alongside Presence and Brave the Dark, and was projected to gross $9–11 million from 3,161 theaters in its opening weekend.[18] It made $4.4 million on its first day, including an estimated $950,000 from Thursday night previews.[20] It debuted to $11.6 million, topping the box office.[21] It was the second number-one opening of 2025 for Lionsgate after Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.[19] Exit polling indicated that 32% of attendees saw the film for Wahlberg and 16% for Gibson. Women accounted for 46% of the audience during its opening, with those over 25 comprising 45% and premium large format screens contributing 27%.[18] In its second weekend the film made $5.4 million (a drop of 53%), finishing in fifth.[22]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 26% of 97 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10.The website's consensus reads: "While there's a place for high-octane dumb fun, Flight Risk dives straight into unpleasant camp without a parachute."[23]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 38 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[24] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 70% positive score.[18]
Clint Worthington of RogerEbert.com gave the film one and a half out of four stars and wrote, "Flight Risk, with its bonkers casting (Mark Wahlberg as a crazy balding charter pilot assassin) and ridiculous poster tagline ("Y'all need a pilot?"), occasionally teases out the kind of sleazy fun action-movie enthusiasts might reclaim in a few years' time. But as it sits in this passenger's estimation, Flight Risk is a supremely bumpy ride that doesn't quite justify its logline."[25] In a mixed review, Wendy Ide of The Guardian praised Wahlberg's performance, calling it "enormous" and "pulpy fun", though she found the movie "diminished in terms of scope and ambition" compared to Gibson's other directorial efforts.[26] In his review, critic Mark Kermode called it "one of the worst films I've ever seen".[27]
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