Film buffs and Cillian Murphy devotees, rejoice! The BBC has dropped a major treat onto its iPlayer service, giving a new generation a chance to witness the film that cemented the actor's status as a master of on-screen menace.
The 2005 airborne thriller Red Eye, directed by the late, great horror maestro Wes Craven, has landed and is available to stream now. This re-release allows audiences to revisit the tense cat-and-mouse game that showcased Murphy's terrifying charisma long before his Oscar-nominated turn in Oppenheimer or his reign as Tommy Shelby.
A Chilling Performance at 30,000 Feet
In Red Eye, Murphy sheds any hint of sympathy to play Jackson Rippner, a sophisticated and chillingly calm terrorist. The plot kicks off with a seemingly charming meet-cute in an airport lounge, where Rippner befriends Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams), a hotel manager.
The tension skyrockets once they board their overnight flight. Lisa is horrified to discover her pleasant seatmate is actually a calculated operative who coerces her into assisting a high-level assassination plot. Using the confined, claustrophobic setting of the aeroplane cabin to perfection, Craven crafts a relentlessly paced thriller where the danger feels palpable and inescapable.
The Role That Defined a Villain
For many fans, this role was a pivotal moment in Murphy's career. While he had already terrified audiences as the scarecrow in Batman Begins, Red Eye proved his ability to deliver a performance of quiet, realistic, and utterly compelling villainy. His Jackson Rippner is not a cartoonish monster but a smart, manipulative, and coldly efficient threat, making him all the more frightening.
This film stands as a brilliant example of Wes Craven's versatility, deftly switching from supernatural horror to a gripping, real-world psychological thriller. The chemistry between Murphy's calculated coolness and McAdams' desperate resilience is the engine that drives the entire film, making it a nail-biting experience from take-off to landing.
Its arrival on iPlayer is a perfect opportunity to see the origins of a modern icon's captivating darkness or simply to enjoy one of the most efficient and effective thrillers of the 2000s.
