---
title: "Flightplan: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/flightplan/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/flightplan"
critics_score: 58
critics_reviews: 9
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Flightplan (2005): what the critics said

Critics' score 58 from 9 reviews: 3 positive, 5 mixed, 1 negative.

The reviews lean towards a mixed response to Flightplan, with praise clustering around its claustrophobic opening and Jodie Foster’s performance. The more favourable accounts find an entertaining thriller in its patient build-up, in-flight anxiety and resourceful, vulnerable heroine. Foster gives the suspense a firm centre for several critics, while the confined setting and uneasy encounters with cabin staff draw praise for making an ordinary flight feel threatening.

The main reservation is plausibility: even sympathetic reviews question how well the plot holds together once its explanations arrive. Some also find that the shift towards action dissipates the earlier tension, though the available verdicts range from tense entertainment to flat contrivance. Slant Magazine admires Foster’s force but finds her intensity increasingly grating. The AV Club offers the strongest dissent, crediting the central twist’s ingenuity while arguing that it relies on an improbable chain of events.

## Empire — Ian Freer

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

Freer finds the film an entertaining, suspenseful diversion that ultimately fails to deliver a satisfying resolution. He praises the patient, claustrophobic build and Jodie Foster’s compelling performance, while faulting the final act’s plot holes.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/flightplan-review/)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 

Bradshaw finds it enjoyable despite its wildly implausible plot. He singles out its homeland-security flavour as part of the thriller’s appeal.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/108903/flightplan)

## Screen Daily — John Hazelton

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 23 September 2005. 

The page identifies this as a review, but the review text is unavailable. Its verdict and any specific praise or complaint cannot be determined from the accessible text.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/flightplan/4024475.article)

## Radio Times — Leslie Felperin

Rating 3/5. 

The available text does not reveal the critic’s verdict. It describes the film as an oppressive action thriller, but offers no accessible comment on what the critic praises or faults.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-a0vu52/flightplan/)

## Time Out — BW

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 22 November 2005. 

The critic identifies The Lady Vanishes as Flightplan’s obvious, unacknowledged source. The available excerpt offers no clear overall verdict or further praise or complaint.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/flightplan-1)

## Los Angeles Times — Carina Chocano

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 23 September 2005. 

Chocano finds the thriller entertaining but says it loses its initial atmospheric tension as it shifts into action. She praises the director’s use of claustrophobic in-flight anxiety and sinister-seeming flight attendant smiles.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-sep-23-et-flightplan23-story.html)

## Slant Magazine — Jeremiah Kipp

Rating 2/4. 21 September 2005. 

Kipp finds the thriller dull, overlong, and ultimately impossible to resolve satisfyingly. He praises Jodie Foster as a compelling heroine, though he says her intense performance becomes grating.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/flightplan/)

## The AV Club — Scott Tobias

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 21 September 2005. 

Tobias finds the film flat and implausible, especially beside the more effective Red Eye. He gives credit to the ingenuity of its central twist, but says it depends on an improbable chain of events.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/flightplan-1798201162)

## Eye for Film — Anton Bitel

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 25 November 2005. 

The review finds Flightplan an effective, tense thriller, though its scheme seems less plausible after the film ends. It especially praises Jodie Foster’s resourceful, vulnerable performance, which anchors the film.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/flightplan-film-review-by-anton-bitel)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/flightplan.md