Extra DVD: Non-Stop (15)

Neeson checks his text messages while Moore tries to help out.

Starring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy.

Hollywood, some time ago, turned its collective eyes skyward for inspiration: the concept of the helplessness of being stuck on an airplane flight while the action unfolds around you, and the attending claustrophobia, was too much for screenwriters to resist.

This idea turned out the excellent Flight Plan with Jodie Foster and the unintentionally hilarious Snakes on a Plane with Samuel L Jackson.

Latterly we have Non-Stop, which is really quite a tension builder.

Liam Neeson plays Bill Marks, an air marshall with a past (alcohol abuse) who was turfed out of the police force.

Marks receives an ominous text message which warns that a passenger will be killed every 20 minutes if a sizeable amount of cash is not desposited in a bank account.

Marks sets out to find the guilty texter before that happens and paranoia ensues as, in turn, his suspect list grows and ebbs as the deadline draws near.

As one-by-one the passengers begin to fall, the authorities have their own suspect: Marks himself.

It seems the bank account the airline has to put the cash into is in the air marshall’s name.

So not only does Marks have to find the culprit, he also has to clear his name.

Collet-Serra, whose previous works include the rather excellent Orphan, knows just how to crank the tension up without going OTT: Marks is unaware he is a suspect, although all of the passengers are watching news reports on TV which is pouring on the suspicion.

Rent it or buy it from this week.

Rating: 8/10