#SKYKING

Patricia E. Gillespie's 2026 documentary is about Richard Russell, twenty-eight, who worked at an airport in 2018. A ground service agent, one evening he took an empty passenger aircraft into the air without authorisation and flew for hours. The documentary treats the event not as an act but as an outcome. Those around Russell say they did not recognise him; conditions at work, economic pressure and questions of mental health are each taken up. His exchanges with air traffic control during the flight exist in recordings and are at the centre. Russell brought the aircraft down and died; the film does not present this as a mystery and avoids sensationalising it. Who it's for: those who can watch case-study documentaries. Who it's not for: viewers sensitive to suicide; the film takes it as a direct and detailed subject.