Sightlines · reception
How Carry-On was received
2024 · Jaume Collet-Serra · Carry-On on Sightlines
The arc
Dropped quietly onto Netflix in December 2024 and became a monster — one of the platform's biggest film launches ever — while critics shrugged 'surprisingly solid.' A year and a half on, it's already settling into the annual December-rewatch rotation rather than vanishing like most Netflix originals.
What’s debated
The debate is whether it's genuinely good or just 'good for a Netflix movie' — plus the inevitable Die Hard question: does it earn a spot in the Christmas action-movie canon or is it just cosplaying one?
Its footprint
It lives in culture as 'Die Hard for the TSA era' — the pitch practically writes the Letterboxd review, and every December brings a fresh round of 'the new Christmas action movie tradition' posts. Jason Bateman playing chillingly against type in an earpiece is the image people keep coming back to.
Where it stands
A rare Netflix original with an actual afterlife: a comfort-thriller December staple and reliable Letterboxd one-liner farm, not canon but firmly in the 'no really, it's fun' tier.
Did you know? It became one of Netflix's most-watched English-language films of all time, cracking the platform's all-time top-10 list within weeks of release.