The real story around Flight Risk has been about its odd marketing. First, it didn’t mention Mel Gibson by name. Early TV spots only mentioned “the award-winning director of Braveheart, Apocalypto, and Hacksaw Ridge.” Then we got a promo with Gibson in Braveheart makeup shouting at Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Dockery to “go bigger.” After several straight-faced promotions, I don’t know why they went in that direction. Having sat through the film, though, I maybe wouldn’t have promoted the movie at all. It’s very early to make the call, but I would be shocked if this wasn’t the worst studio film of 2025.
Flight Risk is a thriller that you would expect to find on the paperback shelf at a grocery store. Marshal Madolyn Harris (Michelle Dockery) is accompanying witness/fugitive Winston (Topher Grace) from a remote part of Alaska to trial in New York. Winston knows a lot about the Moretti crime syndicate, and they’re willing to pay quite a bit to shut him up permanently. Marshal Harris chartered a solo flight to avoid assassination attempts, but she didn’t account for who was flying the plane. The Marshal senses something off about the pilot, Daryl (Mark Wahlberg). He is chatty—too chatty. I’d leave it there, but anyone who’s been to the movies in the last six months can already tell you what happens next (or watch the trailer, which did the film a significant disservice).
Moretti hired Daryl to kill Winston. And it seems that Daryl is a lot of things. As played by Mark Wahlberg, he rages, sings, and goes over the top in every way possible. Wahlberg, who felt out of place in The Happening, has learned how to play camp. After so many bland leading roles, Wahlberg leans into scenery chewing with gusto. If Gibson wanted everything bigger, then Wahlberg went for it. But this isn’t a movie where flamboyant mugging is useful. Previous action films have survived this odd tonal balance before—look no further than Den of Thieves 2—but the film must be constructed differently for Wahlberg’s eccentricities and stilted dialogue to hit. The mashup of tones never coalesces because Gibson isn’t suited for camp. His films have a hardened edge built on the pathos of violence and revenge, and this film doesn’t quite get there.
Flight Risk should be exciting, too, but the film doesn’t know what to do beyond having Daryl threaten and beat everyone aboard. Even the violence in the movie doesn’t make sense. Why strangle someone who’s already bleeding to death? The dialogue is tin-eared, the CGI is awful, and those few plot developments not already given away by Flight Risk‘s marketing are painfully obvious. A movie built on suspense fails to create tension in a substantial way. It just sits there, like Wahlberg’s bald cap.
The film itself is a chamber piece, following the three characters inside a plane in a life-or-death situation. The ambition in a minimal approach is admirable, but when it doesn’t work, everything falls apart. Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace do their best, but it’s clear they didn’t vibe with the direction as well as Wahlberg did. If they all had the freedom to lean into the exaggerated artifice, maybe there’d be a spark. Grace gets most of the witty banter, leaving Dockery to be the serious face of this action-thriller. Marshal Harris has to land the plane herself, with mountains, turbulent weather, and a psychopath onboard. It’s a thankless role, but someone had to do it.
Fortunately, the running time is brief. Whatever failure Gibson had in connecting with Jared Rosenberg’s script, he makes up for by hitting the beats and moving on. As many complaints as there are about Flight Risk, it isn’t bloated. But you keep wondering, where is the guy who made Apocalypto? Hacksaw Ridge was almost nine years ago, but no falloff should be this severe. From its green-screen environment to its limp ending, this movie feels cheap. Watching the trailer for Flight Risk, I first wondered what Wahlberg was doing. At the end of 91 minutes, I had a different appreciation for his performance. Wahlberg in freak mode is the only thing Flight Risk has going for it. He’s having a blast, I just wish we were too.
Flight Risk flies into theatres on January 24.