Josh Hartnett’s Unfairly Overlooked Action Film With 76% RT Keeps Fighting on the Streaming Charts

Fight or Flight, Josh Hartnett’s return to the action/comedy film scene, is becoming a breakout streaming hit. The underrated film had a brief theatrical run earlier this year and finally arrived on streaming earlier this month.

FlixPatrol reports that Fight or Flight is holding steady on Paramount+’s Top 10 Movies in the United States as of Oct. 19, 2025. It has remained in the Top 5 of the charts every day for the past week, peaking at #3 yesterday. The film is bested only by The Naked Gun (#1) starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, and Vicious (#2), Dakota Fanning’s new horror movie that dropped on Paramount+ earlier this month. Fight or Flight was released in the U.K. back in February, and it made its streaming debut on Oct. 1.

Hartnett stars as Lucas Reyes, a man who is recruited to identify and protect a wanted criminal onboard a commercial airline. The high-octane thriller sees Hartnett’s character given one final chance to redeem himself as he attempts to hunt down the high-value target known only as The Ghost. His mission won’t be an easy one; he’s joined onboard the plane by several assassins from around the world who are targeting both The Ghost and Lucas.

The result is that Lucas and the mysterious Ghost must work together in a fight for their lives at 37,000 feet above the ground. The film mixes its fast-paced thrills with plenty of comedic moments, and the role continues to build on the momentum Hartnett has been building up in recent years. Last year, he starred in M. Night Syamalan’s Trap, playing a serial killer evading police capture, with other recent film roles including Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, Netflix’s Black Mirror and Hulu’s The Bear.

Hartnett is joined by Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton), Marko Zaror (John Wick: Chapter 4), and Katee Sackhoff (The Mandalorian) in the film. It was released in the United Kingdom on Sky Cinema in February, with a U.S. release following on May 9. It made $2 million in its opening weekend and finished seventh at the box office.

Fight or Flight ended its theatrical run with $4.3 million worldwide, but its less-than-stellar box office run isn’t indicative of the film’s quality. Those who turned out to see it have largely enjoyed the film, and it is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 77% approval rating from over 120 critics’ reviews. The audience score is similarly high, sitting at 74% from over 500+ verified user ratings.

The consensus on Rotten Tomatoes declares Hartnett’s performance in Fight or Flight as ‘go-for-broke’, saying that his commitment to the character sustains the action/comedy and ensures that it “refreshingly doesn’t wear out its welcome.” The audience consensus largely agreed, calling the film “demented and shamelessly entertaining.”

Hartnett Talks About His Latest Action Movie’s ‘Absurd’ Concept

Image via Vertical Entertainment

Earlier this year, Hartnett talked with CBR about Fight or Flight and opened up on what it was like to play such an intense character. “There are a lot of fun sequences in this, where the character is kind of outside of his own mental state, and that’s always fun to do as well,” he shared. “It’s just such an absurd concept, and we were able to push it to a place that I think makes it so much fun for audiences, and the main point of this was just to make it as entertaining as possible.”

Those who have enjoyed Hartnett’s action films over the years will also be thrilled to know he was fully committed to the role — including doing his own stunts. “When I read the script, I was like yes… They said, the conceit of this is that you’re going to do your own stunts. I was like yes, 100%. I’m 45 years old. I probably won’t get asked to do this very often,” he shared. “Even when you do a big action film, they don’t really make you do your own stunts. A lot of it’s CGI, and a lot of it’s stunt doubles.”

Fight or Flight is now streaming on Paramount+.

Fight or Flight movie poster
Josh Hartnett

Release Date

May 9, 2025

Runtime

102 minutes

Director

James Madigan

Writers

Brooks McLaren, D.J. Cotrona

Producers

Basil Iwanyk, Tai Duncan, Erica Lee

• Josh Hartnett

  Lucas Reyes

• Katee Sackhoff

  Katherine Brunt