A Preview of ‘Hijack’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Idris Elba as Sam Nelson in ‘Hijack’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

For nearly fifty years, the action-adventure/thriller/summer epic, has dominated the box office and rightfully so. For these are event motion pictures, the kind that take us on an emotional rollercoaster for a couple of hours before returning us to our everyday lives and truly… the theater has been the perfect place to enjoy these spectacles. Since they harbor all of the state-of-the-art gear to provide that perfect immersive experience courtesy of surround sound and crystal-clear picture, and truly… these types of films and that type of experience are here to stay since blockbuster movies in that vein still make amazing amounts of money and people still buzz about them the instant they’re announced. 
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But what’s truly fascinating about this particular type of story, is that it has been around long enough… that it is beginning to evolve. For there are creative minds curious if this type of story can do more, can be more and take us on a different kind of immersive experience and it just so happens… that the first step in the evolution of the action thriller is about to take place, on Apple TV+ no less. For tomorrow will see the debut of Hijack, a story about an airplane hijacking, that will play out in real time over seven episodes, and that concept alone… makes this quite the important project. Because it really is a full-on expansion of what this type of story accomplishes. For instead of a two-hour, high-octane ride, we are going to be privy to nearly a full day’s worth of action and intensity and a situation that we all deeply fear.

However, while those elements alone would be enough to carry this new type of epic through and through, there are plenty more special elements present in this story, as this reporter learned at a recent press conference with members of the cast and its creative braintrust, and through an advance look at the series. Such as the fact that this is a supremely cinematic story in nature, one that the creators worked hard to put together in realistic manner. Something they achieved by building a full-on plane on a sound stage so that they could properly capture the claustrophobic nature of this type of disaster and offer up an intimate look into the moment as well. In fact, even the action sequences were crafted with that thought in mind, so that more realism would be achieved and so this series can take us on a visceral and powerful experience, and it really does achieve that through its setting and its technical prowess and more. 

For clever writing comes into play often in this series, the kind that takes us on a powerful journey. One that is slow burning in nature, so the intensity properly ramps up to a crescendo. And taking time with the story allows for everything here to feel organic and plausible and that draws us into the story and allows for us to get to know the people we’re spending time with on this plane and attach to them and really, it is the intimacy that makes this story so special. Because you become deeply invested in this story, and its characters and you simply want to know more about why this is happening, and how it will be resolved. Which also allows for some real-time surprises to come into play. The kind that only enhance this already amazing experience further and the wonder of this show doesn’t end there.

Because it also features, some magnificent acting. Which adds depth to the tension, and it also doesn’t hurt, that Idris Elba is the lead. Since he brings the gravitas that he is known for to this role and that too, only adds to the evolution of this type of story. Because it allows for an A-List name, a staple of the thriller epic, to do more within this genre, adding new depth to this genre, courtesy of a series that is revolutionary in nature. Because we’ve never seen a thriller such as this one and truly, all of these elements… and the passion that went into creating them… has given life to something original and impressive and this is a series that will likely light a spark and lead to more action epics and thrillers on the small screen. Where the audience can enjoy it at their own pace, and their own leisure and the best news of all… if that you don’t have to wait that much longer to see what the evolution of the blockbuster is going to look like. For the first two episodes of Hijack take flight on Apple TV+, tomorrow, 6/28/23.

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Notable Quotables from the ‘Hijack’ Press Conference

Idris Elba (“Sam Nelson” and Executive Producer) and Jim Field Smith (Co-Creator and Director) Regarding How the Setting Enhances the Storytelling
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Idris Elba: “But actually, you know, I think the- the fact that we didn’t break the plane apart and make… you know, this is a real plane, just in a studio, and the- the- the confinement of that just really applied to the drama. Even for the crew, you know, figuring out how we’re going to do this top shot without being able to take the roof off was about trying to figure out how to do that. And, you know, it all sort of led into the claustrophobia of it, so the crew, the actors, you know, everyone was sort of tight, and we’re… it was almost like watching a documentary being made while being in the documentary, you know.”
 
Jim Field Smith: “It meant we could keep going more, you know, it meant that we could stay in the moment and let the scene play out more, which, you know, when you’re dealing with a hijacking it’s about people reacting and trying to figure out live, you know, how to get through the next second, how to get through the next minutes. And so, we were able to bring some of that into the actual making of it, you know, we used a lot of unbroken shots, we moved often with Sam’s character… with Idris’ character, Sam, we’re moving with him through the plane. So, we did a lot of that for real, you know. And there was a lot of like, you know, literally people having to hand the camera to each other and stuff like that. But, again, that was, as Idris says, that was all about wanting to feel engaged in the drama of it and not feel like it was artifice or that it was… we were sort of sitting aback and watching it from afar, I wanted it to feel like
you’re in that hijack.”
 
George Kay (Co-Creator and Writer) Regarding the Show’s Realistic Inspiration

“I was on a train, actually - I was on the Eurostar, I was doing a lot of work in France – and we were in the Eurostar tunnel and the train stops quite abruptly. And even though I knew everything was alright, it flashed through my mind, what if there’s something going on, on this train? What if it’s happening up the carriages? And I looked around me at the people, the kind of businessman eating his lunch, and the squabbling family, and I thought like, how would we cope as a group of people if this was a serious incident? Would the tough looking guy really be tough, would the kind of the weedy guy really rise up and actually cover himself in glory and manage to stand up to people. Who are these people really when you look past them as- as- as… you get past your prejudice of those people and how they look. And it kind of put me in mind of blitz spirit and like when the chips are down, how does the British or an international community cope when suddenly thrust into kind of extremes. Then the thought of a plane was much more of a visual, you know, we could really open it up…”
 
Actors Archie Panjabi and Max Beesley (“Zahar Gafoor” and “DI Daniel O’Farrel”) Regarding What Attracted Them to the Series
 
Archie Panjabi: “Well, when I first read it, I think I was sent three and I couldn’t put it down. And then, by the end of the third one, I wanted to know if my character had [LAUGHS] successfully saved the passengers, so I phoned up my agent and said, “I need to read four to seven”, and she said [LAUGHS] so selfish of me. But she said, “do you not want to do it?”, I said “no, I’d love to do it. I just need to know what happens to the passengers” And that’s when I thought this is a brilliant script, it’s really thrilling, it’s going to have audiences at the edge of their seat, so. And Idris was in it, of course, and Max and Jim [LAUGHS].”
 
Max Beesley: “Well, I… Interestingly enough, Idris is very kind enough to suggest me for the role to the producers, which was lovely, and then- and then when I got the scripts, the first thing I always look at is who’s written it, because I write myself and I love… I like good writing. And I saw it was George, and then Jim as a director, and I’d seen Criminal, and what I loved about that show was it was compelling. It was in such small, confined spaces yet there was so much going on within the stillness, if that makes sense, and I thought it was really clever television that they’d both created. And so, immediately, I was like great, let’s go. And also, I wanted to work with Idris. I didn’t realise that he’d be thirty thousand feet up in the air and I’d be running around the ground trying to find out what was going on, you know, but…”