Hijack review: Idris Elba leads a far-fetched plane thriller that feels a lot like Luther

The new Apple TV+ thriller isn’t Luther – but sure feels a lot like it.

By Morgan Cormack

Published: Monday, 26 June 2023 at 12:00 am

3.0 out of 5 star rating

**WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS FOR HIJACK.**

It’s worth stating early on that while Hijack is its own entity, completely devoid of any mention of BBC’s dark drama hit Luther – and has also been created by Lupin‘s George Kay and Criminal’s Jim Field Smith – the new Apple TV+ thriller weirdly feels a lot like it.

Perhaps it’s because leading man Idris Elba delivers pretty much the exact same performance as a moody yet intelligent leader type who remains enigmatic until the very end. Hijack is almost like ‘Luther takes a holiday’, if you will.

Similarities aside, we follow Elba in this new series as Sam Nelson, a mysterious business negotiator whose job warrants hushed tones from his ex-wife and son, and who, despite the audience following him closely throughout all seven episodes, has a job that largely remains obscure.

Sure, we know he’s brought in to the final stages of big business mergers, but how that correlates to him thinking he’s the man for the job of disarming a plane hijacking? Not so sure.

"Idris
Idris Elba in Hijack.
Apple

For no real reason at all, Elba’s Sam is the kind of man people listen to – he manages to command a room well enough to hold the plane for one tardy plane passenger and settles into his first-class surroundings with little more than a Gucci bracelet bought in duty-free for his wife.

Sam even tells the passenger next to him to turn down the volume on his phone and smiles knowingly at the flight attendant when he does so during her safety demonstration.

From the offset, we understand Sam to be the kind of man you’d entrust your life with. We don’t know why, we’re not inclined to ask too much about that when watching, and so you just have to embrace Hijack hoping that Sam really is a man not to be underestimated.

We know what’s to come in this series, but even so, despite us literally having the plot details in the series title, you still sit on tenterhooks throughout the first episode (and much of the season) waiting to see exactly how the hijack in question will unfold.

Hijack opens up with a somewhat peppy montage of the people behind-the-scenes in the airport: the people who get our flights off the ground, the pilots who are in charge of safe take-off, the cabin crew and security.

We’re introduced to some of the passengers on Flight KA29 in a rushed manner – we don’t need to know too much about them to begin with, because this real-time thriller will unfold with enough time to get to know them all. Or so you hope.

Although this season stands at seven episodes long – neither too much of a drag or a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ drama – Hijack misses a real opportunity to draw on more of the human, emotional elements of the crisis, rather than just the action that can take place in this dramatic scenario.

"Archie
Archie Panjabi in Hijack.
Apple

The series does a good job of fleshing out some character stories, sure, and they make for some of the more unexpected heart-wrenching parts of the drama.

But seeing as there are particular characters that have a bit more of the limelight than others – the sassy vicar, the nervous yet plain-talking girls’ sports team, the morally questionable pilot – we end up never really knowing too much about them.

Of course, an action-packed thriller doesn’t have to rely on the inner workings of our decisions, but when so much of this series is concerned with the question of “what kind of person would you be in this scenario?”, Hijack does miss a glaring opportunity to tug on our heartstrings a little more.

In the vein of things being missed on-screen, the series is also considered in its use of gratuitous violence and death.

We’re cooped up on a plane with gun-wielding bad guys so, of course, there have to be some casualties. But rather than depict this, those particular moments are thoughtfully left for us to piece together – rather than drawn out in a dark and grisly manner.

It’s something that does lead to a slight lack of clarity in some parts, but the blood and violence is something that Hijack doesn’t need. It also leads as an example that other tense series could take heed from in this day and age of gritty dramas.

While packed with action and tense scenarios aplenty, Hijack boasts some stellar acting talent from the likes of Ben Miles, Eve Myles, Archie Panjabi and more. But while the performances are generally strong, it’s hard not to think of this series as a melodrama, veering on the side of (understandably) heightened emotion a little too often.

For a lot of the series, there’s an unmistakable sense of claustrophobia, and it goes without saying that this definitely isn’t a series for anyone with a nervous disposition to flying.

But almost as soon as you start to feel that, the series opens up and allows the viewer to breathe by cleverly including some on-the-ground investigations and insight into the reason for the hijacking.

No less gripping, following the UK counterterrorism team and the flight controller teams is a lesson in patience as they slowly but surely learn of what has happened to Flight KA29.

And, as we learn about the logic behind the hijack, you can’t help but be left continuously surprised at where this series winds up.

Once more, Elba is at the forefront of an action-filled tale with glaring performance similarities to Luther. Even so, Hijack is a ride worth taking if you’re a fan of out-of-the-blue twists – even if they do feel exaggerated.