A wounded co-pilot struggles to control his aircraft as it is besieged by terrorists in 7500, an especially tense new German-produced thriller from debut director Patrick Vollrath that almost entirely takes place within the cockpit of the plane.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Tobias Ellis, co-pilot on a flight from Berlin to Paris that also happens to be carrying the mother of his child, stewardess Gökce (Aylin Tezel). Initial scenes during 7500’s opening sequences, including a procedural-like rundown of takeoff routine with pilot Michael Lutzmann (Carlo Kitzlinger), lull us into a familiar sense of everyday travel.
But soon after the plane is in the air, things quickly go south. That thin piece of cloth separating the cockpit from the main cabin isn’t entirely secure; when passengers seated in the first row peek beyond it and see crew members open the cockpit door, they rush the two pilots.
One of the hijackers, a (presumed) Islamic terrorist named Kenan (Murathan Muslu), manages to get inside the cockpit, slash at Tobias’ arm, and repeatedly stab Michael in the stomach, but Tobias manages to knock him out, restrain him, and lock his cohorts out of the cockpit.
Wounded and threatened, Tobias must now contend with the other hijackers now using passengers and flight crew, including the mother of his child, as leverage to get him to open the door, all while trying to navigate an emergency landing and maintain control of his plane.
What makes 7500 innovative in its depiction of these events is its perspective: we witness everything from the cockpit, and even events that occur inside the cabin are seen via a TV screen behind the pilot’s seats. A CCTV title credit sequence, meanwhile, tracks the hijackers in the airport as they plot their attack, transforming Duty Free liquor bottles into makeshift broken-glass weapons.
As the tension is ratcheted up, 7500 turns increasingly claustrophobic: Tobias has nowhere to go, and few options at his disposal, as he attempts to bring the plane in safely while terrorists threaten to kill hostages behind him.
While the first two acts of 7500 are undeniably effective, however, writer-director Vollrath doesn’t quite bring things in for a smooth landing: climactic scenes rely heavily on cliches, and certain plot developments involving one of the hijackers, played by Omid Memar, don’t ring true.
Despite the presence of a major Hollywood star (though Gordon-Levitt hasn’t had a starring role since 2016’s Snowden), 7500 received little fanfare as it premiered at film festivals last autumn before flying in under the radar and onto Amazon Prime (Germany), where it can now be seen.
That’s a shame: while not entirely successful this is the kind of intense, edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave you shouting at the screen.
The title of the film, 7500, refers to the code used by aircraft crew to inform traffic controllers of a hijacking without alerting the hijackers.
