Passenger‘s tagline is intriguing – ‘130 million people take road trips every year. 15,400 of them are never seen again’! The intro scene is chilling and also a bit funny and it sets the tone. A few scary moments in the middle are memorable and the same applies to the climax. However, despite a run time of just 94 minutes, the film looks stretched. The whole angle of The Passenger is unconvincing since the van community seems to have little knowledge about it. The back story of the characters is also not properly explained. Jacob Scipio (Tyler) and Lou Llobell (Maddie) are okay, but they do well in the climax. Melissa Leo (Diana) is decent. Miles Fowler (Lucas) and Alan Trong (Daniel) steal the show, despite having cameo appearances. Lastly, Joseph Lopez (The Passenger) is terrifying. All in all, Passenger makes for a decent, one-time watch.
My rating – *** out of 5!