Recently, there was an attempted hijacking of a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel. It was, and is, a desperate act of a people who believe that violence is the only way to redress wrongs. To that end, there is an apropos quote often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi at the beginning of the film: “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” The Christian equivalent to that is Jesus teaching His disciples to “turn the other cheek.” In other words, returning a physical hurt in kind does little good for anyone, including the supposedly aggrieved party. I know that I am always spoiling films, but we see these principles applied in today’s entry, 7500 (2019). It is a remarkable act considering the events that bring us to the climactic moment.

7500 begins by showing a young man on security footage making his way through the Berlin airport. Next, we see him and other passengers board a plane. From there, almost the entirety of the rest takes place within the cockpit of a European Airways Airbus A319 preparing to fly from Berlin to Paris. American first officer Tobias Ellis (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works alongside Captain Michael Lutzmann (Carlo Kitzlinger), while Tobias’ girlfriend, flight attendant Gökce (Aylin Tezel), is among the cabin crew. The routine departure changes abruptly after takeoff when several young Islamist terrorists armed with makeshift glass knives attempt to storm the cockpit. Flight attendant Nathalie (Aurélie Thépaut) is killed during the assault, and two attackers, Kinan (Murathan Muslu) and eighteen-year-old Vedat (Omid Memar), the young man from before, force their way inside. Tobias manages to push Vedat back into the cabin and secure the door, but Kinan remains inside. Michael is mortally stabbed, while Tobias suffers a severe wound to his arm before subduing Kinan with a fire extinguisher. He straps the unconscious attacker into the cockpit jump seat and transmits the emergency transponder code 7500, identifying a hijacking. Air traffic control directs the aircraft toward Hanover, the nearest suitable airport, while Tobias tries to keep the plane under control and tend to Michael. Michael eventually dies despite Tobias’ efforts to revive him, leaving the injured first officer alone with the unconscious Kinan and the terrorists outside the reinforced cockpit door. Daniel (Paul Wollin), one of the hijackers in the cabin, begins using hostages to force Tobias to open it. Tobias is instructed that he must not surrender the cockpit under any circumstances because doing so could place everyone aboard, as well as people on the ground, in even greater danger. Daniel brings a passenger before the cockpit camera and threatens to kill him. Tobias pleads with Vedat over the interphone and tries to reason with the younger man, but Daniel murders the passenger when Tobias refuses to open the door. The next hostage is Gökce. Desperate to save her, Tobias announces over the cabin speakers that the hijackers have no guns and are armed only with pieces of glass, hoping the passengers will overpower them. He again appeals directly to Vedat, but Daniel kills Gökce as Tobias watches helplessly on the cockpit monitor. The passengers finally fight back against the hijackers in the cabin. Meanwhile, Kinan regains consciousness, frees himself, and attacks Tobias from behind. He opens the cockpit door long enough for Vedat, fleeing the uprising among the passengers, to enter. Kinan takes control of the aircraft and reveals that the hijackers’ true purpose is not to escape but to crash the plane and kill everyone aboard along with people on the ground. Vedat, who had not understood that he was joining a suicide mission, panics at the realization that Kinan intends for them to die as well. When Kinan prepares to crash the aircraft, Vedat attacks and kills him. He frees Tobias and demands that the wounded pilot fly them somewhere else. Tobias explains that the aircraft is running low on fuel and must land at Hanover first. Vedat reluctantly accepts the plan and helps Tobias, whose injured arm makes operating the controls difficult, bring the plane safely to the ground. Once they land, the surviving passengers and crew evacuate, but Vedat keeps Tobias in the cockpit as his hostage and demands that the plane be refueled so that they can leave. German police surround the aircraft and begin negotiating with him. The frightened young hijacker becomes increasingly unstable as he realizes how little chance he has of escaping. His mother calls his cellphone, and Vedat breaks down while speaking with her, saying that he wants to come home and revealing how completely the promises that brought him onto the aircraft have collapsed. Tobias, despite everything Vedat has helped do and despite having watched Gökce die, continues trying to persuade him to surrender peacefully. When Vedat becomes agitated again and threatens Tobias with a shard of glass, a police sniper shoots him through the cockpit window. As officers storm the aircraft, Tobias does not retaliate against the wounded young man. Instead, he immediately tries to help Vedat and repeatedly demands that the police get him a doctor. Tobias is finally escorted from the cockpit and passes Gökce’s body outside the door, confronting the personal cost of the ordeal he has survived. Vedat is carried away for medical attention, and the aircraft is left eerily empty. In the final moments, Vedat’s cellphone, left behind in the cockpit, begins ringing again.

Given the events of 7500, it is fitting that it ends in silence with the camera pulling back and nothing else shown after the plane is evacuated. It definitely does not fit with what many might expect from the conclusion of such a film. Because I have seen so many movies, I figured that at some point, Kinan’s glass knife that Tobias recovered would be used to avenge Gökce’s death. As a culture and society, we tend to root for characters to get their vengeance. Indeed, the majority of action films revolve around this concept. As such, it is refreshing, though perhaps predictable, that Tobias would ultimately behave as he did. I add this caveat only because of the quote at the beginning of the film. Then again, that could have been put there to underscore the absurdity of such actions. Instead, what is highlighted is the tragedy of such an outcome. I admire Tobias for doing the Christian thing and seeing to the wounded Vedat. However, the broader issue is the loss of life. God does not rejoice over the death of any human being, and every person is made in His image and possesses an inherent dignity that violence cannot erase. In a way, this applies best to Vedat. Though he is eighteen, meaning he is of age, his behavior is more like that of someone much younger. For starters, he is easily misled into taking part in a hijacking. Further, he is not eager to give his life for the cause. Finally, his immaturity means that he is unable to see a way out of the situation he is in, albeit one that would have likely led to his imprisonment. It is good that he had a change of heart, but all he could think of was his desire to go home. All the same, even though there is nothing explicitly Christian about the film, Tobias tries to save Vedat because, again, all human life is precious.

It is strange to use the word “precious” in talking about 7500 because it is such a tragic film. Nonetheless, it might be worth a watch because of its unique character, taking place almost entirely inside the cockpit. I wish Gökce had not died, but Tobias’ response redeems her death to a degree.