‘Blacklight’: release date, trailer and everything we know about the Liam Neeson action movie

Blacklight Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson in 'Blacklight' (Image credit: Solution Entertainment Group)

Movie fans are getting another go of Liam Neeson action hero, as the actor will star in the upcoming 2022 movie Blacklight. Set to turn 70 this year, Neeson is among the stars who are proving that age is just a number and they can still pull off some of the best action in movies (see Tom Cruise).

Blacklight comes from a story by Brandon Reavis and a script by Nick May and Mark Williams (the creator of Ozark), with Williams serving as director. Williams and Neeson previously worked together on the 2020 movie Honest Thief.

So before we see what Neeson has in store for some overconfident bad guys, here is everything you need to know about Blacklight.

‘Blacklight’ release date

Blacklight is now playing exclusively in movie theaters for U.S. audiences (details on a U.K. release have not yet been announced).

Liam Neeson stars in ‘Blacklight’

Blacklight Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson in 'Blacklight' (Image credit: Solutions Entertainment Group)

Liam Neeson is an Oscar-nominated actor known for movies like Schindler’s List, Love Actually, Kinsey and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Whether it was wielding a lightsaber in Star Wars or something else, Liam Neeson has centered the second act of his career primarily in the action movie genre.

The trend really began with Taken, where Neeson gave an iconic monologue warning the men who took his daughter what was in store for them. He would make two more Taken movies, but his affinity for action movies didn’t stop there. Neeson would star in The A-Team, The Next Three Days, Unknown, The Grey, Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones, Run All Night, The Commuter, Cold Pursuit and the previously mentioned Honest Thief. Neeson is enjoying it all telling Variety in 2017 that he will continue to do action movies “until they bury me in the ground.”

In this latest action movie Blacklight, Neeson plays Travis Block, a government operative who is ready to retire and try and start fresh with his daughter and granddaughter, but of course things won’t work out that easy. As Block says in promotional materials for the movie, his enemies are “going to need more men.”

‘Blacklight’ trailer

See just how much Neeson means business in the Blacklight trailer: 

‘Blacklight’ plot

The trailer gives you the general sense of the movie, but here is the official synopsis for Blacklight:

“Travis Block lives and fights in the shadows. A freelance government ‘fixer,’ Block is a dangerous man whose assignments have included extracting agents out of deep-cover situations. When Block discovers a shadowy program called Operation Unity is striking down ordinary citizens for reasons known only to Block’s boss, FBI chief Robinson, he enlists the help of a journalist, but his past and present collide when his daughter and granddaughter are threatened. Now Block needs to rescue the people he loves and expose the truth for a shot at redemption. Nothing and no one is safe when secrets are hidden in Blacklight.”

‘Blacklight’ cast

The key supporting cast joining Neeson in Blacklight include Aidan Quinn (Legends of the Fall, Burn My Heart at Wounded Knee) as FBI chief Gabriel Robinson, Emmy Raver-Lampman (The Umbrella Academy, Central Park) as Mira Jones, Claire van der Boom (Hawaii Five-0) as Amanda Block and Gabriella Sengos, who makes her big screen debut as Natalie Block.

Here is a list of the Blacklight cast and who they are playing:

  • Liam Neeson - Travis Block
  • Aidan Quinn - Gabriel Robinson 
  • Emmy Raver-Lampman - Mira Jones 
  • Claire van der Boom - Amanda Block 
  • Gabriella Sengos - Natalie Block 
  • Taylor John Smith - Dusty Crane  
  • Yael Stone - Helen Davidson 
  • Andrew Shaw - Jordan Lockhart 
  • Zac Lemons - Wallace 
  • Tim Draxl - Drew Hawthorne 
  • Georgia Flood - Pearl 
  • Caroline Brazier - Sarah 
  • Mel Jarnson - Sofia Flores 
Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.