Non-stop ending explained – the killer’s identity and their plan for Liam Neeson in the plane thriller

The 2014 film Non-stop He sees Liam Neeson taking his action heroics to the skies on a hijacked airplane. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Non-stop Follows Air Marshal Bill Marks, a man grappling with alcoholism as he boards a flight to London. To Mark’s surprise, the flight takes a dark turn when he realizes that a mysterious terrorist is hiding on the plane. The terrorist communicates with Marx via text and threatens to kill a passenger every 20 minutes unless his ransom demands are met.

Non-stop was released at the height of Neeson’s post-Taken Career. Following Takens release in 2009, Neeson became one of the most popular action movie stars to grace movie screens. perhaps surprisingly, Non-stop Proved a profitable hit, earning $222 million against a budget of $50 million. Non-stop is now enjoying a resurgence on Netflix, with the action thriller even breaking into Netflix’s Top 10 movies. Non-stop Is a solid watch all the way, but its tense ending is a particular highlight of the movie.

Tom Bowen’s Killer Twist & Revenge Plan Explained

Bowen seeks to highlight the flaws in America’s airport security

After a long cat-and-mouse game aboard the plane, the end of Non-stop Marx discovered that The hijacker is passenger Tom Bowen (Scott McNairy), with computer expert Zack White (Nate Parker) acting as his accomplice. The movie reveals Bowen’s motivation for the hijacking, which is the loss of his father in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Bowen enlists in the military after his father’s death, only to become disillusioned with the Iraq War. He believes that America has not strengthened airport security enough to stop similar attacks in the future, and he sets out to prove it.

Bowen’s hijacking of the plane was intended to spur airport security to tighter levels. He convinces White to help him by giving him a cut of the ransom. Meanwhile, Bowen’s intention is to frame Marks as the hijacker of the plane. In doing so, Bowen hopes to paint a picture of lax national airport security and ineffective air marshals, thereby forcing America’s hand to improve flight safety. Bowen set up quite an elaborate plan to ensure that Marks took the case. Initially, it works as intended. However, Mark eventually clears the charges and exposes the real hijackers.

Why Marx Was Framed for Hijacking the Plane (And How He Was Exonerated)

The hijackers set marks to take the case

Non-stops hostage situation begins with Marks receiving a series of mysterious texts, with the texter threatening to kill a passenger from the plane within 20 minutes unless $150 million is transferred to a designated bank account. The hijacker also says that the murders will continue every 20 minutes until the money is transferred. Initially, Marks believes he has found the culprit in his fellow sky marshal, Jack Hammond (Anson Mount). He kills him just before the 20-minute countdown ends and discovers a stash of cocaine in his carry-on luggage. He soon realizes that this was planted by the real texter.

Marks finds himself the number one suspect when he learns that the bank account to which the ransom is to be transferred has his name on it.. Marks’ rush to uncover the identity of the texter also backfires on him when he interrogates Bowen. One of the passengers recorded a video of Marks’ belligerence, uploading it online. With this and the bank account error attached to his name, Marks is ready to take the blame for Bowen and White’s plot.

Meanwhile, a group of fighter jets arrives as a military escort, with orders to shoot down the plane if the situation worsens beyond comprehension. Marks has help to calm the situation from the first-class passenger sitting next to him, Jen Summers (Julianne Moore). However, another twist emerges when they inadvertently trigger the countdown device for the bomb planted aboard the aircraft.

With 30 minutes until the bomb explodes, Marks moves the bomb (hidden in Hammond’s cocaine-filled bag) to the back of the plane. He covers it with luggage to minimize the blast radius and ensure that the plane is still capable of landing if the bomb detonates.

How Marx saves the plane and its passengers

Marx proves to be the hero

After Marks discovers Bowen and White, Bowen surprises his partner by shooting him. The mission proved to be a pure mercenary pursuit of White, and Bowen believes that both of them must become martyrs for his cause. It is clear that Bowen believes in this cause to the end. Marx kills him while the plane descends from 30,000 feet to 8,000 feet. It is instructed to do so in order to avoid depressurization of the bomb going off.

Meanwhile, White survives being shot by Bowen and attempts to fight Marks. During the plane’s rocky descent, the bomb finally detonated, White was killed in the blast. After the plane manages a rough but safe landing at an airport in Iceland, Marx was publicly cleared of the hijacking charges and praised for his bravery. He manages to save the passengers aboard the flight, and Bowen’s plans ultimately fail. The latter never becomes the martyr he hopes to be, although Marx and his fellow air marshals may look at things differently after his hijacking.

What’s next for Marks & Summers after Nonstop’s end

Marx finds personal redemption in the end

While Marx was dealing with alcoholism and bitterness at the beginning of Non-stopSaving a plane full of passengers can give him a renewed sense of purpose and optimism about his job. Seeing Bowen’s cynicism about American foreign policy—along with the lengths he was willing to go to prevent another tragedy like 9/11 from happening—may have given Marx a new perspective.

In fact, it may be just what he needs to realize the importance of what he’s doing. There is value in protecting passengers, and Marks proves it to himself and others throughout Non-stop. The lead of the film also gains optimism from the support he gets from Summers. Even when he is framed for hijacking the plane, Summers stands by Mark’s side and trusts that he is on the plane as a protector. When Marks asks Summers why in the final scene of the movie, she tells him that he is “A good man.”

Summers gets a sense of Marks’ character while sitting next to him, and she also compliments Marks with the line “I bet your daughter would be proud of you.” Non-stop Ends with a hint of a romance between Marx and Summers. When Liam Neeson’s action hero asks Summers, “Where are you headed?” She shrugs and replies, “Depends.” This suggests they might share a future together after the end of Non-stop.

How the non-stop ending is obtained

Non-stop is regarded as one of the better and more entertaining Liam Neeson action movies to come out in the aftermath of Takens success. However, the big reasons in how it was received by audiences and critics seem to come down to the fact that people went in with low expectations and a willingness to accept the stupidity of the plot. Unlike the end of Knives Out or other acclaimed mysteries, the ending of Non-stop Doesn’t come together in a flawless way where the villain’s plan and motives make sense and fit with the clues.

Many people criticized the ending for its implausible nature of how the villains were able to pull off the plan. It doesn’t come across as a brilliant bit of storytelling where all the pieces fit together nicely, but is rather clumsy and requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. Redditor Cold Pressed Steaks Complained about the villain’s design specifically:

The amount of ​​things that have to go right for the villain, some that have to go in a specific sequence that are not even really in his control… hilariously ridiculous.

They criticized the motivations behind white participation in this highly implausible plan and the “lazy” Invoking 9/11 as part of the motivation for the villains. However, the same redditor also admitted that the flaws didn’t ultimately take away from the fun of the movie:

The funny thing is, I still enjoyed it. It still created good tension in spots. The red herring of Liam suspected which passenger it was really done fine and you could feel the frustration with Liam. In the end, I’m fine with turning down that ounce of brainpower and just enjoying the ride in movies like this.

This seems to be the sentiment shared by many people who have seen Non-stop. The ending is generally considered a weak point in the story, and it never really comes together in a satisfying way, but the build-up to it made for a fun and diverting experience that takes full advantage of Neeson as the no -Nonsense hero.