After The Conjuring, Patrick Wilson And Vera Farmiga Starred In This Liam Neeson Action Movie

For us horror movie fans, it's fun when we see artists who we come to know for their spooky work stretch their legs in other genres and types of films. This can certainly be said for director Jaume Collet-Serra, who began his filmmaking career in 2005 with the loose remake of "House of Wax," a delightfully unique film that has gained an entire reputation on its own, partially due to the involvement of Paris Hilton but also thanks to Collet-Serra's bravura filmmaking. Right away, the director demonstrated an interest in branching out to other genres, following that film up with "Goal II: Living the Dream," a sequel to a 2005 British sports drama. Yet Collet-Serra didn't stray from horror too long, and his third feature, "Orphan," not only proved his commitment to the genre but also that his unique touch as seen in "House of Wax" was not a fluke.

Right after "Orphan," Collet-Serra made an unrelated trilogy of action films starring Liam Neeson: "Unknown," "Non-Stop," and "Run All Night." Neeson had recently experienced a career revitalization with the "Taken" films, demonstrating that an actor of advancing years could become an action icon, and his work with Collet-Serra helped prove that Neeson could do more than just "Taken" when in action mode. While Neeson was busy working with Martin Scorsese making "Silence," Collet-Serra made another move back to horror with the shark thriller "The Shallows." Given this dancing back and forth between horror and action, it was only a matter of time before those worlds would collide in a Collet-Serra film, and indeed they did, albeit in a most unexpected way. 

In 2018, Collet-Serra and Neeson teamed up once again to make "The Commuter," and the director decided to cast a previous collaborator from "Orphan," Vera Farmiga, in a leading role. Ironically, Farmiga was joined on the film by her co-star of "The Conjuring" and "The Conjuring 2": Patrick Wilson. It's a casting that not only works well for "The Commuter," but also gives "Conjuring" and horror fans a little extra thrill.

"The Commuter," thanks to Jaume Collet-Serra's energetic filmmaking, is an action thriller that plays like Alfred Hitchcock on steroids. It involves Michael (Neeson), a former NYPD officer and current insurance agent, who loses his job unexpectedly. While on an MTA train home from Grand Central to Tarrytown, New York, Michael encounters a mysterious woman, Joanna (Farmiga), who offers the ex-cop a large sum of money in exchange for tracking down a passenger on the train who's supposedly stolen something important to her. Things only get more mysterious and deadly from there, and caught up in the proceedings is Michael's ex-partner on the force, Murphy (Wilson). No spoilers for those of you who haven't seen the film before, but the casting of Farmiga and Wilson isn't incidental. Without giving too much away, their characters have a connection, something which makes their presence in "The Commuter" feel like an ironic counterpoint to their appearances as the warm, loving married couple Ed and Lorraine Warren in the "Conjuring" films.

If you're a horror and/or action fan, this is probably all the convincing you need to check "The Commuter" out. If you want more incentive, however, then check out the rest of the cast list, which is stacked with other popular actors. The movie also stars Jonathan Banks ("Breaking Bad"), Elizabeth McGovern ("Downton Abbey"), Sam Neill ("Jurassic Park"), Kingsley Ben-Adir ("Barbie"), Damson Idris ("F1"), Letitia Wright ("Black Panther"), and Florence Pugh ("Thunderbolts*"). Don't get too excited, however — while all these amazing actors and more turn up in the film, the movie is largely focused on Neeson, with Farmiga and Wilson playing the next largest roles. 

That said, given the fact that "The Conjuring: Last Rites" promises to be the final appearance of Farmiga and Wilson as the Warrens, it's even more worth it to see those actors share the screen some more. So, if you're in the mood for a fun, energetic thriller with an absolutely stacked cast, then "The Commuter" is the train that you want to be on.