Do people in the movie make questionable choices? Yes. That's where the drama comes from in almost all movies (and in people's real lives too for that matter). Does that mean the main characters aren't worth empathizing with? I don't think so. Does anything completely unpredictable happen? Not really. I would compare this movie to an episode of Walking Dead where few zombies show up, and the eposode is mostly about the characters. In a lot of those eps nothing thrilling happens, but you really learn a lot about the characters. This is similar. If you are not a parent, this movie may not be super compelling to you, but I'm a sucker for a parent working really hard to save their kid.
Review of Cargo
