Hijack – Apple TV+ Series Review

HIJACK on Apple TV+ is a new thriller series starring Idris Elba along with a star-studded cast. There are seven episodes that follow the nearly 7-hour-long flight. Read our full Hijack series review here!

HIJACK is a new Apple TV+ thriller series with seven episodes. If you’re flying to a vacation destination this summer, you may want to wait to watch this. It truly is a nightmare come true for everyone onboard the fictitious Kingdom Airlines flight from Dubai to London.

Idris Elba is amazing in the all-important lead role, where he has to make tough decisions and become both hero and villain along the way. There are seven episodes in the series and we’ve watched all of them for this review. You’ll want to watch them all as well!

Continue reading our Hijack series review below. Find the first two episodes on Apple TV+ from June 28, 2023.

High-octane thriller indeed

In the official description for this Apple TV+ series, it’s called a “high-octane thriller” and I can confirm that this is very accurate. It plays out in real-time which certainly helps keep it all on edge.

Also, the whole mystery of why the hijack happened in the first place is constantly nagging. How do you talk to or work with people, who won’t even tell you what they want?!

As Hijack is told in real time, we do get to follow the entire journey of the hijacked plane. From everyone boarding and getting seating – including minor feuds between passengers from the very beginning – to the arrival in London.

A seven-hour flight that never lets up on keeping things very tense!

A minor spoiler (or more of a teaser as I won’t spoil it here) is that once you know the title of the final episode, you’ll have an indication of just how bad it all gets. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

Brutal scenes in this new Apple TV+ thriller

To be clear, I do want to offer a warning for this thriller series; Many scenes do turn into pure horror as a lot of people do die rather brutally in this series.

In other words, anyone fearing a long and slow hijacking storyline can relax. Not only is this an intense and character-driven thriller onboard a flight, but we do also follow everyone on the ground trying to make sense of it.

Every single actor gave performances that got under my skin.

Idris Elba (Luther: The Fallen Sun) stars as Sam Nelson, who is a brilliant negotiator in the business world. Being onboard a flight that gets hijacked, he takes it upon himself to make sure it doesn’t end in disaster. Translation: He needs to negotiate a deal with the hijackers.

Often, it becomes a high-risk strategy where he alienates everyone around him with his brutal honesty and he tries to get the ear of the hijackers.

An amazing cast in the air and on the ground

On the ground, the always wonderful Archie Panjabi (The Fall, Snowpiercer season 3) plays the role of Zahra Gahfoor. She works as a counterterrorism officer and immediately becomes part of the investigation. Mostly because she is the first to discover the hijacking has happened.

The series also stars Christine Adams (The Unholy), Max Beesley (The Outsider), Eve Myles, Kaisa Hammarlund, Holly Aird (Silent Night), Neil Maskell (Bull), Zora Bishop (The Sandman), Aimée Kelly, Mohamed Elsandel and Ben Miles. To name just a few!

I really shouldn’t reveal who they all portray as it’s part of the mystery.

And yet, I can see no harm in revealing that Eve Myles (Broadchurch, Eat Locals) portrays the London air traffic controller responsible for the Kingdom Airlines flight that has been hijacked. Eve Myles is amazing in this role when her character must keep her cool exactly as required.

Watch Hijack on Apple TV+

This new Apple TV+ series is created by George Kay (Criminal) and Jim Field Smith (Criminal, Truth Seekers). The two also wrote and directed the series respectively. With these two at the helm, you should already know that it’ll work out very well.

Personally, I wasn’t sure if seven 45-minute episodes would be way too long, but it really does work. Especially due to it essentially playing out in real time. Not in a 24 kind-of-way where there’s a constant countdown, but we do get to keep an eye on the clock often.

Also, I enjoyed simply witnessing the different kinds of passengers. We all know these types and they avoid becoming full-blown caricatures though it does get dangerously close at times. Once you start watching, you’ll want to finish watching it.

And you really should stay to the very end!

Hijack premieres on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. Weekly episodes are released every Wednesday with the finale on August 2, 2023.

Details

Creators: George Kay, Jim Field Smith
Directors: Jim Field Smith, Mo Ali
Cast: Idris Elba, Archie Panjabi, Christine Adams, Max Beesley, Eve Myles, Neil Maskell, Jasper Britton, Harry Michell, Aimée Kelly, Mohamed Elsandel, Ben Miles