Flightplan is a psychological thriller film released in 2005, directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, and Sean Bean.
The story revolves around a recently widowed mother named Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster), who is traveling with her daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston) from Berlin to New York aboard a state-of-the-art passenger jet. Kyle is a propulsion engineer who helped design the plane, so she feels confident about traveling in it, but soon after the flight takes off, she falls asleep.
When she wakes up, she realizes that Julia has disappeared and nobody on board seems to remember her daughter being there. Even when Kyle shows photos and documents to prove that Julia was with her, the airline staff and passengers accuse her of being delusional or lying. The plane's captain (Sean Bean) tries to calm her down, but she becomes increasingly desperate and paranoid as the flight progresses.
Kyle's only ally is a sympathetic flight attendant named Fiona (Erika Christensen), but even she starts to doubt Kyle's story. The situation worsens when Kyle's personal belongings are searched and a crucial item, the name tag on Julia's backpack, goes missing. Kyle begins to suspect foul play and becomes determined to find her daughter, even if it means risking the lives of passengers and crew.
As the tension builds, the movie reveals Kyle's tragic backstory - her husband committed suicide and Julia was the only thing that kept her going. The fragile balance of her mind is shattered by the loss of her child, and she becomes a fierce warrior trying to survive in an alien world.
In the third act, the movie twists and turns in unexpected ways, taking us through secret compartments, hidden cameras, and decoy traps. The plane becomes a claustrophobic battleground between Kyle and an unknown adversary, with the captain and air marshals caught in the crossfire.
In the end, Flightplan delivers a satisfying blend of suspense, character drama, and action, with a strong performance by Jodie Foster as the troubled protagonist. The movie asks us to question our assumptions about what's real, what's imagined, and what's worth fighting for.