My quick rating – 5.7/10. You know those road safety ads that tell you to stay alert. Take regular breaks. Watch out for hitchhikers? Passenger takes that advice, cranks it up, and basically says, “Also…maybe don’t pick up ancient demons.”
The film opens with a bit of travel safety exposition. Followed by an introduction of two friends heading down a regular highway. Lucas (Miles Fowler) takes a potty break, but when he comes back to his car, Daniel (Alan Trong) is nowhere to be found. Open doors, blaring horn, and the creepy meter goes off in the red. It’s a good start that grabbed my attention from the get-go.
Six weeks later, the focus changes to Maddie (Lou Llobell) and Tyler (Jacob Scipio), her boyfriend, who have been enjoying the #VanLife dream. At a meetup known as Burning Van, they get a tip, which could easily grace an inspiring travel coffee mug: “People don’t take trips…trips take people.” The quote is incredibly unsettling, except for one thing. The movie immediately ignores its own rules.
They’re specifically warned not to drive at night because that’s when the Passenger is strongest. So naturally, veteran traveler Diane (Melissa Leo), who has supposedly survived this nightmare for years, turns around moments later and says, “Let’s hit the road…tonight.”
That’s the horror equivalent of surviving every Nightmare on Elm Street movie and deciding, “You know what? I could really go for a nap.”
The movie never really explains what the Passenger can and can’t do, which becomes increasingly frustrating. This thing seems capable of manipulating reality, turning day into night, appearing anywhere it wants, and generally playing by whatever rules the script needs at the time. If it can literally change the time of day, rerouting a few roads shouldn’t exactly be beyond its skill set.
That also raises another question. At one point, they mention they’re “making good time,” but…toward what? Nobody seems to know exactly where they are going. Kinda like patting yourself on the back for winning a race without a clue of where the finish line is.
Still, for all its questionable logic, I found myself enjoying the ride.
The religious myths and demons provide some background other than your basic story of a haunted road, and I did find myself wanting to know more about the Passenger. The mood is set nicely because of good lighting, angles of the camera, and good use of dark scenes.
The scares are a mixed bag. There are more jump scares than the movie probably needs, but they are generally well done since the sound design is very effective in creating suspense prior to the scare. Even when you know something is coming, the audio still sets you up.
Unfortunately, the ending goes a little off the rails. Rather than delivering a satisfying payoff to the mythology it spends the film building, director André Øvredal swings for something much bigger and stranger that didn’t quite land for me.
Passenger might not be breaking any ground in supernatural horror territory, nor will its characters ever earn their AAA membership in making decisions, but this is still a fun film to watch. The mood, imagery, and mythology work wonders to compensate for the story’s tendency to create rules on the fly. While Passenger might very well be your typical horror flick, it’s one worth watching. Even if I was occasionally yelling at the screen to stop driving into obvious danger.
