''Airborne'' is a 2012 British horror film written by Paul Chronnell and directed by

Dominic Burns Dominic Burns (born 30 December 1983) is an English film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. After starting as an actor, Burns then moved into directing where he has made his name. When making such films as '' Airborne'' and ''UFO'' he f ...

, who describes it as a tongue-in-cheek film in the tradition of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

''. A first trailer was released in 2011. It was reported in the media that it presents Mark Hamill's first appearance in a British film; however, Hamill had acted previously in the 1982 British film ''

Britannia Hospital ''Britannia Hospital'' is a 1982 British black comedy film, directed by Lindsay Anderson, which targets the National Health Service and contemporary British society. It was entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival and Fantasporto. ''Britan ...

''. Airborne's introduction, before sporting a voice-over by Mark Hamill, refers in writing to a so-called ''Firelight Protocol''.

Plot

Despite an approaching winter storm a near-empty airliner takes off from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

for New York. One by one the passengers begin to disappear, while one passenger who frequents the route notices the plane has turned whereas it should be flying straight. Soon it is discovered that the pilots are dead and that the plane is on

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...

; and it is revealed that two on board are hijackers who have murdered the pilots to take control of the plane. The passengers who disappeared were killed when they witnessed parts of the hijacking. The hijackers intend to steal and sell both the plane and an ancient vase being transported on board which, according to legend, acts as a prison for a death god. The passengers try to hinder the hijackers but they are unable to overpower them and instead wind up tied to the seats of the plane, the hijackers planning to use them as hostages. Meanwhile,

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

becomes alarmed; they have lost radio contact with the plane as it first veers off course and then disappears from radar. They alert the authorities, who assume the plane has been taken over by terrorists and send fighter aircraft to intercept it. As fighter planes take off and close in on the airliner the would-be hostages escape their bonds. The people on the hijacked airliner begin to go violently crazy, killing themselves and each other without apparent reason; the incorporeal death god has been released from the vase and is possessing people, trying to find a suitable host. The airliner passes into

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

n airspace, causing the fighter jets to give up pursuit; then the air controllers watch in horror as the plane begins to descend, its trajectory sending it into the ocean. One of the passengers has disabled the autopilot and is flying the plane into the ocean to prevent the death god from being released into the world. A passenger possessed by the death god and one of the hijackers try to stop the plane from crashing, but they fail; the death god leaves the passenger's body at the last moment, giving her only enough time to scream into the radio before the plane hits the water. Back in London, the air traffic controllers are marched out of the control room by the authorities, who mean to leave no witnesses. The eyes of one of the controllers flash blue, indicating that he is possessed by the death god.

Cast

* Mark Hamill as Malcolm Brook * Billy Murray as Cutter * Simon Phillips as Alan *

Gemma Atkinson Gemma Louise Atkinson (born 16 November 1984) is an English influencer, actress, radio presenter and former glamour model. She played Lisa Hunter in ''Hollyoaks'' (2001–2005, 2022) and in three spin-off series, '' Hollyoaks: After Hours'' (2 ...

as Harriett *

Julian Glover Julian Wyatt Glover (born 27 March 1935) is an English classical actor with many stage, television, and film roles since commencing his career in the 1950s. He is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and has performed many times for the ...

as George * Alan Ford as Max * Craig Conway as Luke *

Allison McKenzie Allison McKenzie is a Scottish TMA Awards nominated actress from Glasgow. As a youngster she went to The Mitchell Theatre for Youth and discovered her love of acting. She fulfilled a childhood ambition when she worked with the Royal Shakespear ...

as Agent Millward *

as Bob *

Rita Ramnani Rita Ramnani (born 21 December 1981) is a British actress and dancer known for her roles in ''The Hunt for Gollum'', '' Jack Says'' and '' Umbrage''. She holds a post-graduate degree in Classical Acting from London Academy of Music and Dramatic A ...

as Claire *

Raji James Rajesh Kumar Jhanji (born 24 February 1970), known professionally as Raji James, is an English actor, known for his roles as Ash Ferreira in '' EastEnders'', DS Vik Singh in ''The Bill'' and Ali Shahzad in ''Hollyoaks''. He also played Abdul ...

as Kailash * Kimberly Jaraj as Laura *

Andrew Shim Andrew Shim (born 18 August 1983) is an American-born English actor best known for his appearances in the films and TV shows of Shane Meadows, especially '' This Is England'' (2006–2015). Although a United States citizen, he has lived most of ...

as Sam

Production

said in an interview she "was surprised that they had a whole aeroplane for shooting". In front of the very plane actor Simon Phillips ("

How to Stop Being a Loser ''How To Stop Being a Loser'' is a 2011 British independent comedy film starring Billy Murray, Gemma Atkinson, Richard E. Grant, Simon Phillips, and Colin Salmon. The film released on 18 November 2011 in the United Kingdom. , none of the sev ...

") gave an interview during the film's shooting. Among other things he explained his role is supposed to provide some comic relief. The director

has a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

as a character called Bob.

Release

The film premiered on the opening of the British International Film Festival, 11 May 2012. On 10 February it was published that Chelsea Films (a division of

Curzon Artificial Eye Curzon Film (), formerly known as Artificial Eye or Curzon Artificial Eye, is a British film distributor, specialising in independent, foreign-language and art house films for cinema and home entertainment. History Artificial Eye was founded i ...

) purchased the United Kingdom rights for a release in 2012.Henry Barnes and Andrew Pulve
"Berlin 2012: Mark Hamill Flies to British Screens in Dominic Burns-Directed Horror 'Airborne' "
''The Hollywood Reporter''. 10 February 2012

References

External links

*
Article featuring photographs of the shooting of ''Airborne''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Airborne (2012 film) 2012 films 2012 horror films 2012 horror thriller films Films about aircraft hijackings British horror thriller films British aviation films Films set on airplanes Films shot in England 2010s English-language films Films directed by Dominic Burns 2010s British films