A young doctor fears the return of her childhood nightmare in Row 19. Twenty years ago, Katerina (Svetlana Ivanova) was the sole survivor of a horrific plane crash. Boarding a redeye flight with her daughter Diana (Marta Timofeeva), Katerina is shocked when the fellow passengers on the flight begin dying unexplained deaths. These deaths lead Katerina to believe that the terrifying force that caused her childhood plane crash has returned to finish the job.
Row 19 is a Russian horror film by director Alexander Babaev. The film’s protagonist Katerina is still recovering from the childhood trauma of being the sole survivor of a plane crash. However, she is comforted on the flight by friendly fellow passenger Alexey (Wolfgang Cerny). However, Katerina notices something off with this flight, a fear that’s confirmed when her fellow passengers suffer gruesome, unexplained deaths.
For better or worse, Row 19 is what you would expect from a direct-to-video horror film, set predominantly in the single location of this redeye flight. The film’s plot has a supernatural element, as Katerina remembers seeing a white-eyed witch (Yola Sanko) on her childhood flight, and she begins to fear that the witch has returned to finish the job. In addition, Katerina has started to have visions, which affect her perception of reality, including the question about whether her childhood crash happened as Katerina remembers it.
In addition to the central characters of Katerina, Diana, and Alexey, Row 19 features a supporting cast of about a half dozen or so fellow passengers on this redeye flight. These passengers include the older woman Galina (Irina Egorova), who sports a fear of flying, and the grumpy binge-drinking businessman Nikolay (Anatoliy Kot), who wants to get home to his family. Most of the supporting characters play little importance to the plot, other than being victims of the plane’s supernatural force.
If there is an element of Row 19 that will make or break the film, it is the ultimate revelation of what is happening on this plane, which is almost an M Night Shyamalan level twist. I would almost describe Row 19 as a whole as being a Shyamalan-style Russian thriller. The film is relatively well-produced for what it is, and it delivers some harmless thrills and chills, even if some of the effects leave something to be desired.
While the film is ultimately somewhat inconsequential, Row 19 is still a thriller worth checking out.