The Commuter 2018

As Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson) goes about his daily routine, punctuated by the monotony of his morning commute, the familiar rhythms of his life are disrupted by the unexpected call from his boss. With a mixture of disappointment and disillusionment, Michael is informed that he’s being laid off from his job as a life insurance salesman. His attempts to reason with his employer fall on deaf ears, leaving him feeling helpless and vulnerable.

Seeking solace in a local bar, Michael runs into his old friend and former partner, Officer Alex Murphy (Patrick Wilson), who’s now serving as a city cop. Over drinks, they commiserate about their shared experiences and the latest news headlines, including the tragic tale of a city planner who allegedly took his own life. As Michael confides in Murphy about his recent layoff, he reveals that he hasn’t mustered the courage to share the news with his wife, Karen (Elizabeth McGovern), and son, Danny (Dean-Charles Chapman).

As they chat, their conversation is interrupted by none other than Captain Dave Hawthorne (Sam Neill), a former colleague who’s now risen through the ranks. His sudden appearance serves as a poignant reminder of the complexities of small-town politics and the cutthroat world that Michael once navigated as a detective.

The evening takes an unexpected turn when Michael boards his usual train ride home, only to be confronted by Walt (Jonathan Banks), a fellow commuter who’s been observing him from afar. As they exchange pleasantries, Joanna (Vera Farmiga) joins them, her presence marked by an air of quiet confidence and subtle intensity.

It soon becomes clear that Joanna has a proposition for Michael: in exchange for helping her locate someone named Prynne at the last stop, she’s willing to part with $25,000 in cash, plus an additional $75,000. As Michael navigates this precarious situation, he finds himself torn between his own desires and a growing sense of unease.

As the train rumbles on, Michael discovers that Joanna has left him more than just a sum of money; she’s also left behind a mysterious warning that threatens to upend his entire world. With Karen’s wedding ring in hand, a symbol of their enduring love and commitment, Michael is forced to confront the darker realities of his own choices and the consequences that lie ahead.

In a desperate bid to make sense of it all, Michael borrows Tony’s (Andy Nyman) phone and tries to reach out to Karen, but she remains unreachable. His attempts to connect with Murphy yield similar results, leaving him feeling increasingly isolated and adrift. It’s then that Joanna reappears, her enigmatic presence punctuated by a chilling warning: if Michael doesn’t find Prynne, something terrible will befall his loved ones, Karen and Danny.

As the stakes grow higher, Michael is forced to confront the ghosts of his past, navigating the treacherous landscape of deception, betrayal, and redemption in order to secure a future for himself and those he loves.

As Michael attempts to scribble a hasty message on a newspaper for Walt’s attention, his phone rings with an unexpected call from Murphy. With Walt’s precarious situation unfolding, Michael fills Murphy in on the dire circumstances, and the latter shares a chilling detail: Prynne, a mysterious witness, has come forward claiming to have witnessed two individuals hurling the city planner to his death. Following the conversation, Joanna’s voice crackles through the phone once more, her tone dripping with malevolence as she issues a warning: this is what happens when one tries to extricate themselves from her clutches.

As Michael gazes out the window, he beholds Walt on the cusp of crossing the street to confer with the authorities. But before he can take a step, a shadowy figure, seemingly working in tandem with Joanna, propels Walt into the path of an oncoming bus, ending his life in a gruesome instant. The cold calculation of her words still echoing in his mind, Michael is instructed by Joanna to locate Prynne and secure the bag they’ve left behind, then attach a tracker to it.

Michael becomes acutely aware of his surroundings, scrutinizing the other passengers for any sign of surveillance. He strikes up conversations with a few who dismiss him as eccentric, while his eyes remain fixed on Gwen (Florence Pugh), a young girl bearing a suspicious bag. His pursuit leads him to a dead end, however, as she’s merely using fake IDs to facilitate her boyfriend’s illicit activities.

Undeterred, Michael spots Dylan (Killian Scott) conversing on the phone and clutching a bag. He trails Dylan, who eventually turns aggressive, attacking Michael in the next car for following him. As their scuffle escalates, Michael drops his guard long enough for Dylan to gain the upper hand. When Michael mentions Prynne, Dylan’s expression darkens with suspicion, prompting them to continue fighting until Michael concedes defeat. This ruse allows him to slip a tracker onto Dylan’s bag.

Later, Joanna summons Michael once more, directing him to investigate beneath the floor of an empty car. To his horror, he discovers Dylan’s lifeless body, a bullet wound in his head. Her icy tone drips with recrimination: Michael has misidentified the wrong individual. The cherry on this calamitous sundae is the arrival of the police, alerted to disturbances on the train.

Michael finds himself trapped next to Dylan’s corpse when a cop steps on the door handle, locking it shut. With mere seconds to spare, he slips off the moving train and rolls out from beneath its undercarriage before sprinting back aboard. His bag is caught in the process, releasing all but a $100 bill as he desperately tries to retrieve it.

As the train hurtles towards Cold Spring, Michael’s anxiety reaches a fever pitch. He begins to scrutinize every unfamiliar face, his paranoia fueled by the realization that time is running out. Five passengers catch his attention, their faces a blur of uncertainty as he searches for any telltale signs of Prynne. A false alarm involving a card game with Tony sends him careening down a rabbit hole of misidentification, until a chance encounter with Oliver (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), a guitar-wielding passenger, leads Michael into the empty car.

To his surprise, Oliver turns out to be an assassin, dispatched by Joanna to eliminate Prynne. The ensuing struggle culminates in a desperate bid for survival as Michael fights for control against the would-be killer. In a thrilling turn of events, Michael gains the upper hand and disarms Oliver, sending him tumbling out the window where he meets his demise at the mercy of an oncoming train. Seizing the opportunity, Michael claims Oliver’s gun, his grip on reality tenuous at best.

With only two stops remaining before Cold Spring, Michael orchestrates a clever ploy to isolate the remaining passengers by crippling the air-conditioning system in all but one car. The seemingly innocent Eva (Clara Lago), a nurse, becomes his next target of suspicion. He confiscates her phone, convinced she’s conspiring with Joanna, and holds her hostage at gunpoint, demanding the truth.

Trembling with fear, Eva confesses to a heated argument with her boyfriend, revealing her desperate attempts to patch up their relationship. Michael’s apology is a stark acknowledgment of his own mistake. As the train approaches its final destination, Michael’s epiphany dawns: Prynne isn’t among the suspects he’s been questioning. A flashback of a young woman swapping seats after being subjected to an annoying passenger yields the truth. Sofia (Ella-Rae Smith), the innocent bystander, had unwittingly witnessed the murder and was scheduled to testify alongside two FBI agents at Cold Spring – but Michael’s refusal to betray her has sealed their fate. Joanna’s chilling declaration via phone call casts a shadow over the entire train: “Everyone will die now.”

As the train hurtles forward with seemingly no way to stop its impending doom, Michael seizes control of the situation by instructing Sam (Colin McFarlane) to apply the emergency brake. However, their desperate efforts are foiled when they discover that the engineer has succumbed to fate, leaving the locomotive in a state of unstoppable momentum. With the train barreling toward a catastrophic crash, Michael and Sam embark on a frantic endeavor to detach their carriage from the rest of the train. After a tense struggle, Michael manages to break free with Sam’s assistance, but they soon realize that the car is still tethered by a stubborn chain. Undeterred, Sam lends his expertise to Michael as they work in tandem to release the last vestiges of resistance, finally managing to bring their carriage to a halt mere seconds before disaster strikes.

As the survivors struggle to come to terms with their harrowing ordeal, Michael turns his attention to Sofia and asks her what secrets she might possess that could be coveted by their enemies. With a mixture of trepidation and resignation, Sofia reveals the existence of a cryptic flash drive containing information that could potentially implicate the city planner – a trusted friend who had shared confidences with her in life. The weight of this revelation is compounded by the devastating truth that she was powerless to turn to the authorities for assistance, as the very individuals sworn to protect and serve were complicit in the sinister plot.

The arrival of law enforcement on the scene only serves to further complicate matters, as they mistakenly believe Michael has taken the passengers hostage. In a bid to defuse the situation, Murphy makes his presence known, attempting to reason with Michael amidst the chaos. As Michael endeavors to extricate himself from the predicament and uncover the truth behind the conspiracy, he is met with enigmatic responses from Murphy that only serve to deepen the mystery.

In a stunning twist, Sofia’s revelation of the flash drive’s contents is corroborated by Murphy’s cryptic remark about “there being no such thing as noble,” a phrase eerily reminiscent of Joanna’s earlier words. This epiphany prompts Michael to reevaluate his understanding of the unfolding events and their connection to the larger conspiracy.

As tensions escalate, Michael finds himself locked in a fierce struggle with Murphy, whose own complicity in the plot is slowly revealed. In a desperate bid to gain the upper hand, Murphy sets out to confront Prynne, while Sofia’s attempts to reveal her true identity are met with resistance from the other passengers, who claim they too are Prynne. Amidst this maelstrom of chaos and confusion, Michael must rely on his wits and cunning to outmaneuver his adversaries and stay one step ahead of the law.

In the aftermath of this intense confrontation, Michael is reunited with Karen and Danny, only to be informed that agents have apprehended three suspects linked to Murphy’s operation at their home. As Sofia provides her testimony to the FBI, the other passengers hail Michael as a hero for his bravery in the face of overwhelming adversity. In a gesture of goodwill, Hawthorne extends an olive branch, suggesting that Michael be invited back to his old job as a detective, and offering to investigate Murphy’s accomplices.

As the train chugs along its serpentine route, Michael’s return is marked by a chance encounter with Joanna, whose initial denial of recognition only serves to fuel his suspicion that he’s finally got her number. With an air of quiet confidence, Michael sets about unraveling the intricacies of her scheme, convinced that his detective instincts have outsmarted her plans and foiled her attempts at deception. As Joanna inquires about the likely outcome of this impromptu showdown, Michael responds with a flourish, whipping out his trusty detective badge as if to say: “Game over, Joanna – the tables have turned, and it’s time to face the music.”