If you are anything like me, there's nothing quite like sitting down after a manic day and getting stuck into some serious, pulse-racing action. Hijack, which recently finished airing on Apple TV, has been the sort of on-the-edge-of-my-seat-drama I've been waiting for.
There's something about the TV show that reignited the survival thriller genre so many of us fell in love with when we first got started on Lost circa 2004, plane crashes, landing in the middle of nowhere, taken hostage, epic scenes of negotiation. If you're a fan of the film Under Siege, we were destined to be friends. Gawd I just love it.
There's a Love is Blind narrative game!
If you haven't watched Hijack yet and you love this tense kind of vibe (am I not content with the amount of drama in my life already? Hell no, gimme more) Here's the deal: the story follows talented business negotiator Sam Nelson (played by none other than Idris Elba) as he uses his skills and knowledge to secure a peaceful end to end the hijacking of a seven-hour flight from Dubai to London.
Meanwhile, authorities on the ground scramble to find answers and try to help with what’s happening. There's seven episodes and they're all one hour long, so that's a whole seven hours of binge-watching if you can't bear to switch it off (RIP day job/ parenting).
The great news is, there's actually a lot of similar survival-style action-packed dramas you'll probably enjoy just as much when you're done.
More content for us to enjoy!
Shows like 24, a serial drama that follows Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), an agent in the American Counter Terrorist Unit, whose job is to protect the US from terrorist plots. Twists and turns come by the bucket-load here.
You might also love Departure which sees Kendra Malley (Archie Panjabi) investigate the disappearances of planes over oceans, trying to find out if there are any survivors of the planes that have vanished. There's three seasons of this to get stuck into.
Another is Hostages, that will have you glued to your seat. The plot sees Dr. Ellen Sanders (played by Toni Collette) taken hostage by a team of rogue FBI agents just before she’s about to perform surgery on the President of the United States (James Naughton). The plot thickens as the story unfolds and the kidnappers issue a demand that Sanders is to assassinate the President during his surgery to prevent her family from being killed. Duh, duh, duhhhh…
If you like Hijack, we suggest watching these other tense thrillers…
24 (2001-2010)
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Kiefer Sutherland stars as central character Jack Bauer, an agent with the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU), whose mandate is to protect the United States from terrorist plots. The episodes take place over the course of one hour, depicting events as they happen, in real time.
Hostages (2013-2014)
The family of a doctor (played by Toni Collette) is taken hostage by a team led by a rogue FBI agent the night before she is scheduled to perform surgery on the President of the United States. She is ordered by the kidnappers to assassinate the President during surgery in order to save her family.
Into The Night (2020-2021)
This Netflix drama is part apocalyptic, part thriller. Passengers and crew aboard a hijacked overnight flight scramble to outrace the sun as a mysterious cosmic event wreaks havoc on the world below.
Lost (2004-2010)
A fast-paced, suspenseful, and surreal series about a group of people who survive when their commercial passenger jet, Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, crashes on a remote island in the tropical Pacific. As the survivors work together in an attempt to stay alive, they discover many mysteries about the island.
Departure (2019-2022)
This six-part event series follows Kendra Malley (Archie Panjabi) as she investigates the shocking disappearance of Flight 716, a passenger plane that vanished over the Atlantic; still on bereavement leave, Kendra isn't sure she's up to the task but must race to find the missing aircraft and rescue possible survivors.
Manifest (2018-2023)
Manifest is a supernatural drama that follows the story of passengers whose airplane finally lands after years of being lost on the radar. The disoriented passengers must try and adjust to society again.
Vagabond (2019)
Cha Dal-gun (Lee Seung-gi) works as an underrated stuntman, while simultaneously taking care of his orphaned nephew, Cha Hoon (Moon Woo-jin). Although they have a fairly loving relationship, Hoon argues with his uncle before he leaves to go on a field trip to Morocco after Metrojet Flight 9268.
Yellowjackets (2021-)
In 1996, a New Jersey high school girls' soccer team travels to Seattle for a national tournament. While flying over Canada, their plane crashes deep in the wilderness, and the surviving team members are left stranded for nineteen months.
