Sweaty hands, a fast heartbeat and tense muscles. The thriller movie “Carry On,” released on Netflix on Dec. 13, gave me these symptoms and so much more when watching. The film producers successfully made their viewers experience the same symptoms of stress as their characters, and I was gripping my seat throughout the entire 117-minute run time. If you are looking for a tense and thrilling ride, “Carry On” is the movie for you.

The thriller starts with the main character, Ethan Kopek, learning that he was not accepted into the police academy. After becoming an unenthusiastic transportation and security administrator (TSA) airport officer, he believes the only thing he has in life is his girlfriend, Nora. Nora, however, encourages him to reapply and chase his dreams of becoming a police officer. Ethan believes the first step in improving his life is getting promoted to the baggage scanning lane of the airport. This seemed like a positive thing; however, he ends up becoming a crucial part of an undercover terrorist scheme involving a Russian nerve bomb that could kill everyone on the plane, including Congresswoman Grace Turner, who pushed for increased weapons funding in the U.S. The Traveler, an undercover terrorist, blackmails Ethan by threatening the life of Nora, Ethan’s girlfriend. While being threatened, Ethan struggles with choosing Nora over the lives of everyone on the plane. Which will he sacrifice in the end?

Usually, I get bored during thriller-based movies halfway through because of unentertaining plots. However, this was not the case when watching “Carry On.” The thriller plot was based around Christmas time at the airport, which I thought was interesting because the setting seemed happy and joyful but to Ethan, it was tense and scary. Not many thrillers are set during the Christmas season, but it added a unique and realistic dimension to typical thrillers. Since it was Christmas Eve at the airport, the terrorists considered this the perfect timing to plant a bomb and get their message across. Thousands of people are at airports during the holidays, and the number of civilians increased the tension of the overall plot, making it more engaging. 

Another thing I loved about this movie was how the actors portrayed their emotions. A movie is nothing without good emotional execution. Taron Egerton, who played the character Ethan, did a fantastic job of making us feel his emotions. For example, when the terrorist told Ethan a gun was pointed at his girlfriend’s head, we can feel his despair. Another example of how well the actors portrayed their emotions was when Mateo Flores, played by Tonatiuh Elizarraraz, gave us insight into his desperation to save a loved one. Mateo is a passenger at the airport who, like Ethan, did not expect to get blackmailed into doing terrorist work. Viewers dislike him but by the movie’s end, the acting makes us realize we might not know the full story. He was just someone put in a desperate position.

The final well-done aspect of “Carry On” was the fighting. Audiences love an action-packed movie. However, it needs to entertain, which audiences expect when it comes to thrillers. When Ethan and Mateo are fighting over the suitcase that contained the bomb, the staging did an outstanding job of keeping the audience invested. Viewers could feel their determination juxtaposed with their fatigue; we could see their struggle to survive and their strength waning as the fight continued. Another fight scene that entertained the audience was when Ethan’s girlfriend, Nora, was being followed by an assassin. She tries to survive by hiding and sneaking around a parking lot. The audience seemed to have sucked in the air in suspense, scared that Nora was about to be found. The scene did an amazing job of pulling the audience’s attention and this particular fight scene was still with me long after the movie ended. 

After watching this action-packed thriller recommended by all my peers, I understood why everyone was raving about it. From the attention-grabbing setting to the tense fighting scenes, “Carry On” gives the viewers a fast heartbeat and sweaty hands. I still felt a rush of adrenaline long after the movie ended. I one hundred percent recommend this to mature audiences. If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller that feels more realistic than others, be sure to watch “Carry On.”