A Gerard Butler Action Movie Is Taking Over Netflix

Seems like Netflix audiences can’t get enough of Gerard Butler.

Not only are his Den of Thieves movies extremely popular on the service, but his 2023 action thriller Plane is taking over the service’s charts. Last week it was #1, and this week it’s still going strong at #3.

Plane stars Butler as Scottish pilot Brodie Torrance, who once flew for the Royal Air Force but now flies commercial airliners. After one of his superiors makes a mistake, despite warnings from Torrance, the plane is struck by lightning and is forced to crash-land in the Philippines.

On the flight is homicide suspect Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter, who you may know as Luke Cage), a fugitive being transported from Singapore to Canada. After discovering the island is controlled by rebel pirates, Torrance and Gaspare are forced to team up to save the lives of themselves and everyone on the plane.

Plane surprisingly punches above its weight despite the genuinely baffling plot and dialogue on display. Razor-sharp action and unnecessarily great performances from Butler and Colter elevate this from being a forgettable direct-to-DVD thriller. It’s kinda like one of those movies you’d see on TNT or FX on a lazy Sunday afternoon and say “huh, that was actually pretty good.”

Oh, and by the way, Butler’s returning for a sequel. It’s called Ship. Meanwhile, Plane is streaming on Netflix now.