The first part of the film is extremely confusing and takes forever to get to the point. Apparently Kyle Pratt's (played by  Jodie Foster) husband falls off a roof and dies. They live and work in Berlin.  Therefore, she immediately quits her job (designing airplane engines), packs up his coffin (which requires a "code" to be sealed)and hops on a plane with her daughter Julia, to fly to Long Island to bury hubby and move back in with mommy and daddy.

She and Julia hear the boarding announcement for their flight, and for some reason, are the very, very first to board the plane.  Their seats are toward the back, and the plane is not full. Seated in front of them are some very nosy, loud kids, who constantly turn around and look over their seat.  After the plane takes off, Kyle and Julia agree to head for some empty seats even further back and stretch out. After a 3 hour nap, Kyle wakes up to find Julia gone.  Upset, she questions passengers and the flight crew. NO ONE (out of 425 passengers plus crew) will admit to seeing Kyle with a little girl. Upon hearing the loss of the child, all of the flight attendants smirk and snicker at Kyle. They ask around, but don't do a complete search until Kyle insists. Kyle thinks the search isn't complete enough, ends up throwing a fit, and is restrained with handcuffs. What she SHOULD have done, since she knew the exact layout of the plane, was search the plane herself (which she ended up doing later anyway).

Personally, I found the plot completely preposterous (there are just too many variables required for it to work) and asking too much from the audience - a complete suspension of common sense. However, it was more exciting than than Red Eye, so - three stars.
The first part of the film is extremely confusing and takes forever to get to the point. Apparently Kyle Pratt's (played by  Jodie Foster) husband falls off a roof and dies. They live and work in Berlin. Therefore, she immediately quits her job (designing airplane engines), packs up his coffin (which requires a "code" to be sealed)and hops on a plane with her daughter Julia, to fly to Long Island to bury hubby and move back in with mommy and daddy. She and Julia hear the boarding announcement for their flight, and for some reason, are the very, very first to board the plane. Their seats are toward the back, and the plane is not full. Seated in front of them are some very nosy, loud kids, who constantly turn around and look over their seat. After the plane takes off, Kyle and Julia agree to head for some empty seats even further back and stretch out. After a 3 hour nap, Kyle wakes up to find Julia gone. Upset, she questions passengers and the flight crew. NO ONE (out of 425 passengers plus crew) will admit to seeing Kyle with a little girl. Upon hearing the loss of the child, all of the flight attendants smirk and snicker at Kyle. They ask around, but don't do a complete search until Kyle insists. Kyle thinks the search isn't complete enough, ends up throwing a fit, and is restrained with handcuffs. What she SHOULD have done, since she knew the exact layout of the plane, was search the plane herself (which she ended up doing later anyway). Personally, I found the plot completely preposterous (there are just too many variables required for it to work) and asking too much from the audience - a complete suspension of common sense. However, it was more exciting than than Red Eye, so - three stars.