Lionsgate Play sets September 4 premieres with ‘Black Box’ and ‘Ananthan Kaadu’

MUMBAI: Things are about to get plane scary on Lionsgate Play, with the streaming platform lining up two movie premieres for September 4. The slate brings together a supernatural horror thriller set aboard a troubled flight and a Malayalam action thriller steeped in political unrest and revenge.

First up is Black Box, which turns an everyday flight into a high-altitude nightmare.

The film follows Flight 298 as it travels from New Orleans to Seattle. What begins as a routine journey takes a disturbing turn when the aircraft is struck by unexplained technological failures and strange supernatural events. As communication with the pilots breaks down, passengers are confronted with increasingly unsettling occurrences.

With the aircraft effectively cut off and panic spreading through the cabin, a group of passengers must overcome their fear and work together to survive. The threat remains mysterious, leaving them with little choice but to confront something they do not understand while trapped thousands of feet in the air.

Starring Tom Brittney, Holly White and Betsy-Blue English, the film is directed by Steven Quale. It combines supernatural horror, science fiction and mystery with the claustrophobic tension of an aircraft in crisis.

The second September 4 premiere, Ananthan Kaadu, moves from the skies to the politically charged streets of late-1980s and early-1990s Thiruvananthapuram.

The film centres on Vetrivel Kumaran, a man pulled into a dangerous world where political power, violence and survival are closely linked. As unrest begins to alter the lives of ordinary people, Vetrivel becomes entangled in a chain of events that gradually pushes him towards vengeance.

Directed by Jiyen Krishnakumar and written by Murali Gopy, the film features Arya, Nikhila Vimal, Regina Cassandra, Indrans and Vijayaraghavan.

Set against a turbulent political backdrop, Ananthan Kaadu blends action and thriller elements while examining the consequences of power and violence. Its central conflict gradually develops into a story of endurance, defiance and the weight of past choices.

While Black Box builds its suspense inside a confined aircraft, Ananthan Kaadu finds tension in a society being reshaped by political conflict. The two films may occupy very different worlds, but both put ordinary people in situations where survival comes with a price.

With both titles arriving on the same day, Lionsgate Play is giving viewers a choice between supernatural terror at 30,000 feet and a gritty tale of political conflict on the ground. Either way, September 4 looks set to bring plenty of reasons to stay in.