Carry-On: New Netflix thriller inspired by Die Hard called 'best ...

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviewsSign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

A new Netflix film inspired by Die Hard has arrived on the platform just in time for Christmas, and critics are already buzzing.

Netflix users won’t be short of things to enjoy this festive season, with One Hundred Years of Solitude and No Good Deed already winning praise.

Those after a bit more action during the Christmas period, though, might want to check out Carry-On, a new thriller from The Shallows director Jaume Collet-Serra starring Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman.

The film sees Egerton play a transportation security agent (TSA), who is blackmailed by Bateman’s character into smuggling dangerous items onboard a flight on Christmas Eve.

Written by TJ Fixman, the film was originally planned to be the first release as part of Netflix’s deal with Steven Speilberg’s Amblin production company but was delayed due to re-writes of the script.

Carry-On also stars Sofia Carson, Danielle Deadwyler and Logan Marshall-Green and has already received strong reviews from critics.

In his review for The Wrap, William Bibbiani said: “There are about two minutes in Carry-On that are as exciting as any other action movie this year, and about 100 minutes that are pretty fun too.”

Pramit Chatterjee in Digital Media Talkies wrote: “Carry-On is the best Christmas movie of the year.”

Meanwhile, Nick Schager for The Daily Beast added: “This breakneck Netflix offering confirms the enduring vitality of its chosen formula—and, in the process, proves an unexpected and welcome Yuletide streaming gift.”

Speaking to the BBC, Collet-Serra said that the Bruce Willis classic had inspired the movie, adding: “Everyone wants to make the next Die Hard and the reality is that no one ever will - it’s a perfect movie that can’t be replicated, and also a very specific product of its time.

“But when I read the script for Carry-On, I felt like I had found a more grounded version of Die Hard - which was our North Star for the entire process - for a new generation.”

Elsewhere, if you are still unsure as to whether Die Hard is a Christmas film or not, director John McTiernan, addressed the debate in 2020.

In a video for the American Film Institute, McTiernan mentions that he drew inspiration for the film from the moment in Frank Capra’s Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life when Bedford Falls becomes Pottersville.

“We hadn’t intended it to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is what turned it into a Christmas movie