Trapped in the clouds: Thoughts on Non-Stop New York

Is it worth the watch?

If you have a thing for vintage thrillers where everyone talks in clipped, frantic sentences and wears very stiff hats, sure. If you need modern pacing or logic that holds up to a second of scrutiny, skip it. It’s for the folks who want to see how they used to do suspense before CGI took over everything.

The whole thing takes place on a plane, which is a trope that feels like it’s been done to death, but back in the day, this was the cutting edge of claustrophobia. You get a lot of shots of people looking nervous in cramped seats. It makes you realize that, even in 1937, flying was basically just waiting for something terrible to happen.

Anna Lee is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She spends half the movie looking genuinely terrified, which is impressive given that the plane interior looks like a glorified library set. There’s a particular scene where she’s cornered, and the lighting suddenly gets all dramatic and moody—the kind of stuff you see in La Tosca—but here it feels more like a parlor trick.

The small stuff

• The radio equipment looks like it belongs in a Victorian basement.
• Someone is always whispering in a corner. Always.
• The way people hold their cigarettes while panicking is a lost art.

I couldn't help but think about how much simpler the plot would be if they just had a modern smartphone. But that's not the point, is it? The movie thrives on the fact that no one can leave. It’s got that same locked-in energy you find in Crimen a las tres, where the walls just seem to be closing in because there’s literally nowhere else to go.

Is it a masterpiece? No. It’s got some clunky transitions and a few actors who seem to be in an entirely different movie than everyone else. Sometimes a character just walks into a frame and starts yelling, which is weirdly funny. You can tell they were trying to squeeze every bit of tension out of the budget. It’s not quite as intense as the grit you get in The Fugitive, but it gets the job done for a rainy afternoon.

Also, the ending. I won't spoil it, but it feels like they just ran out of film and said, "Yeah, that'll do." It’s abrupt. Almost like they realized the plane had to land eventually. ✈️