Captain Phillips is a gripping, fact-based thriller directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks as Richard Phillips, the captain of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama. The film dramatizes the 2009 hijacking of the vessel by Somali pirates, marking the first American cargo ship hijacked in two centuries.

When a band of armed pirates, led by Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Abdi), boards the ship, Captain Phillips tries to protect his crew and diffuse the escalating tension. The standoff intensifies when Phillips is taken hostage in a lifeboat, triggering a high-stakes rescue mission involving the U.S. Navy.

Tense, immersive, and emotionally charged, the film explores themes of leadership, survival, and the clash between two very different worlds. Tom Hanks delivers a powerful, understated performance, especially in the film’s emotionally devastating final moments.