‘The Bombing of Pan Am 103’ Review: Netflix’s Sensitive Lockerbie Drama Is Restrained to a Fault

← Back to the feed

‘The Bombing of Pan Am 103’ Review: Netflix’s Sensitive Lockerbie Drama Is Restrained to a Fault

The Hollywood Reporter · 3 hours ago

Netflix has released "The Bombing of Pan Am 103," a six-part miniseries dramatising the 1988 terrorist attack that killed 270 people when a bomb destroyed a New York-bound flight over Lockerbie, Scotland. Reviewer Angie Han praises the drama, created by Jonathan Lee, for its restrained, respectful treatment of the tragedy and its focus on the compassion and tenacity shown by Lockerbie's residents, though she finds it ultimately more effective as a record of past events than as a lasting artistic statement.

The series stars Connor Swindells as Scottish police officer Ed McCusker and Patrick J. Adams as FBI agent Dick Marquise, with a supporting cast including Merritt Wever, Peter Mullan and Eddie Marsan. It recounts how investigators took hours to determine the crash was a bombing and identify a suspect, amid wreckage scattered across roughly 800 square miles and a global toll spanning victims from 21 countries, including 179 Americans. The review notes the show avoids graphic sensationalism in favour of a sober, human-scaled account, though it follows a similar 2025 series, "Lockerbie: A Search for Truth," on the same subject.

  • Netflix's "Bombing of Pan Am 103" dramatises the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270
  • Stars Connor Swindells and Patrick J. Adams; reviewer calls it respectful but unmemorable
  • Six-part series praised for restraint but seen as lacking lasting impact

Art Culture

Read the full article at the source →