Flight attendants, TSA slam Netflix’s ‘unrealistic’ airport movie ‘Carry-On’ – but it got some things right

It was the flying mare before Christmas.

Crew members and TSA agents took shots at Netflix’s hit airport movie “Carry-On,” which they felt took more than a few creative liberties when it came to airport security.

The in-flight thriller follows TSA agent Ethan Kopek (Taron Edgerton) as he tries to fend off a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman) who blackmails him into “slipping a dangerous package onto a flight at the doorstep of Christmas”.

“Carry-On” quickly took Netflix by storm, topping the platform’s global top 10 charts with an impressive 42 million views in its first week, Newsweek reported.

Channeling their best impression of those ubiquitous “expert reviews” series, crew members poked many holes in the film’s narrative funnel.

In a recent TikTok video going viral, flight attendant Camille (@camilleintheclouds) and an unidentified male flight attendant enter the scene where Bateman’s character enters the galley.

“I tell people to get the f – – k out of the gallery,” shouted the suspicious air host, prompting Camille to bite back.

Equally ludicrous, of the pair, was the prospect of Bateman lifting the carpet of the plane without consequence or the hatch on the corridor that anyone can enter and walk to where people load and unload luggage.

Jessica Mayle, a TSA spokeswoman, also pointed out many of the inaccuracies, including a scene where agents play “contraband bingo” with confiscated items.

“We’ve never heard of anyone playing bingo at checkpoints — and certainly not with carry-on items,” she told Newsweek. “TSA highlights unusual prohibited items on social media, but such games are not part of our operations.”

She also disputed the notion in the film that passengers can reject the scanner without major consequences.

“All passengers must be screened before entering the sterile area of ​​the airport. In rare cases, passengers refuse, they are denied access,” she noted.

Another aspect that forced Mayle to suspend disbelief? The idea that a single TSA agent could cause such a large security breach with the protocols they have in place.

“Given TSA’s layered approach to security, with intelligence and risk analysis as the foundation, it is unlikely that the scenarios depicted in the film would evade TSA’s airport security apparatus at the nation’s airports,” she said.

And never, under any circumstances, would an airport resume normal operations during a security breach like the one portrayed in the film, according to Mayle.

Incidentally, some of the most incredible plot points were actually brought up by the security expert, who explained that just like in the movie, a student could use a student ID if they had no other forms of identification.

However, she noted that said traveler will have to undergo additional identification verification, which is likely to lead to delays.

And while “Carry-On” seemed filled with more inaccuracies than “Soul Plane,” Mayle said he thought it did a good job capturing the spirit of the TSA.

“The film ultimately portrayed our frontline workforce in a good light, even if the main character didn’t make the best decisions initially,” she said.

Meanwhile, the film’s writers largely praised the film, which holds a fresh 87% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while also noting that it POND-jump the shark for accuracy.

‘Carry-On’ is an absurd yet entertaining thrill ride about an airport security agent caught up in a deadly terrorist plot involving a smuggled carry-on,” said Carla Hay, editor-in-chief at Culture Mix. “The film doesn’t take takes itself seriously and has well-known heroes and villains.”