Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips (2013) — watch online on iFILM. Paul Greengrass's taut thriller starring Tom Hanks, recreating the early April 2009 seizure of the MV Maersk Alabama in the Gulf of Aden — the first American cargo vessel taken by pirates in two centuries.

The container ship is en route from Oman when two skiffs close in from the water. Four armed men from Somalia board the vessel. The crew seals itself below deck. Captain Richard Phillips stays on the bridge, alone, trying to stall, negotiate, and trade his own freedom for the ship's. He ends up on a lifeboat with four captors and no clear way out.

First-time actor Barkhad Abdi plays the pirate leader opposite Hanks and earned an Oscar nomination for the role. Greengrass shot without studio sets — actual US Navy vessels, real crewmembers of the original Alabama among the extras. The script draws from Phillips's own account of the ordeal. Stream Captain Phillips in full online on iFILM.