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Liam Neeson walking on a train in The Commuter

Published Feb 8, 2026, 1:00 PM EST

Chris is a Senior News Writer for Collider. He can be found in an IMAX screen, with his eyes watering and his ears bleeding for his own pleasure. He joined the news team in 2022 and accidentally fell upwards into a senior position despite his best efforts.

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Liam Neeson has built an entire late-career lane out of ordinary men thrown into extraordinary danger, and The Commuter might be one of the slickest entries in that unofficial series. In the 2018 thriller, Neeson plays Michael MacCauley, a longtime insurance salesman whose carefully structured life falls apart in a single day. After being abruptly fired, he boards his usual evening train home — only to be approached by a mysterious woman with a strange offer.

She claims there’s a passenger on the train who doesn’t belong and challenges Michael to identify them before the final stop. The catch? If he succeeds, he gets a large payout. If he refuses — or fails — the consequences will be far more personal. Part of the fun is seeing a cast packed with familiar faces from major franchises, including Florence Pugh and Vera Farmiga. Neeson’s weary everyman energy plays well against a lineup of actors who’ve all had their own big-screen superhero or blockbuster moments, giving the film an unexpectedly golden cast for a mid-budget thriller.

Is 'The Commuter' Worth Watching?

Collider’s review stated that The Commuter was one of Liam Neeson’s stronger late-career action thrillers, smartly using his age and weary presence to ground an otherwise pulpy premise. While the film occasionally laid its themes of corruption on a bit thick and relied on a few convenient plot shortcuts, Neeson’s ability to play both hardened hero and relatable everyman kept the story engaging. The escalating mystery and inventive set pieces delivered solid entertainment, even if the film never quite reached the elegance of its inspirations.

"Juame Collet-Serra is able to get the most out of Michael moving between train compartments just as he was able to get surprisingly mileage out of Liam-Neeson-Stuck-on-a-Plane in Non-Stop. But the ramp up of the mystery and Michael’s increasing desperation—he’s clever enough to have a chance but not a Holmes-level detective who has it all figured out—makes for a compelling experience. It may not be as smooth or devilishly clever as a Hitchcock movie, but The Commuter is still exhilarating all the same."

The Commuter is streaming now for free on Tubi.