This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Road Trip From Hell
Plot Overview
The start of “Passenger”
is nicely written involving two cars on a deserted highway at
night. The driver Daniel (Alan Trong) of the first one is
castigating his friend Lucas (Miles Fowler) on the seat beside him
for guzzling too much water on a weak bladder. Sure enough his
incontinence takes hold and he must relieve himself in the
trees, accompanied by appropriate sound effects. He returns to find
his friend ravaged, grabs the keys, and takes off in a panic. He
overtakes the second vehicle, a tricked out delivery van, with
an amorous couple inside on a devil-may-care adventure. Tyler
Genocchio (Jacob Scipio) and his girlfriend Maddie Brecker
(Lou Llobell) soon come upon the first car wrapped around a tree
and call emergency services. Thence weird, woo-woo stuff haunts them.
At a nomad encampment this playful couple encounters
wise woman Diana Larson (Melissa Leo) who relates to them the lore
of a demonic entity called “the Passenger” who latches
onto travelers late at night and then toys with them before the
kill. She also susses out that Maddie is “two months
out” carrying her own passenger, which she has yet to reveal
to her boyfriend. It's up to us to surmise—sans sex
scenes—that they weren't continent in their cohabitation,
duh. Tyler was the adventurous one wanting to quit the city while
Maddie having been jerked around while growing up wants to settle
in one place. Her developing state is likely to force the issue now
mute being the elephant in the room. It might be compared to a
Gerhard Von Gottberg short story:
The son was asking his father to support and send on to the Admiral his application for leave. His young wife was very ill; she was shortly to become a mother … As he read the letter, Captain Bork felt something like resentment rising up in him. After all, they were at war. Was there such a thing as a private life for a sailor, an officer? Surely one had to become a piece of the iron Colossus on which one rode, with whose iron heart one throbbed. Was there any room left for thought of wife and child? (815)
Tyler
is an influencer, a pretty successful one at that judging by his
ample belongings. Would he give up his horizon expanding
opportunity to settle back into his old job? The movie doesn't take
us that far, but they must follow hobo signs—marked by those
who had to know their surroundings—to find a sanctified
location from which to defeat the devil. Might they not also enter
into a sanctified marriage?
Ideology
The heavy homicidal action lends itself to comparison
with one of Kenny Rogers's songs concerning a nighttime
encounter with “The Gambler” on a train bound for
nowhere. He offered his fellow passenger the advice that “the
secret to surviving is knowing what to throw away and knowing what
to keep.” The refrain of the song goes:
You've got to know when to hold 'em, Know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away, Know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
This wisdom of the gambling man's repertoire is old as the hills and was passed on by a raconteur, Agur in Proverbs 30:1, whose four metaphors offered the same life advice as did Rogers's Gambler. That we find in, (Prov. 30:29-31) “There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.”
We have Agur's “lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any,” and we have Rogers's “know[ing] when to hold 'em.” In our movie the harried couple is in sight of their goal only to find the pitch peopled by ghoulish goalies blocking their way. The advice one gives the other is to drive over them, “they're not real.” Abandoned cars strewn left and right bear testimony that others before them balked at going on, to their grief. Perhaps this couple will be bolder.
We have Agur's “king, against whom there is no rising up,” and we have Rogers's “Know[ing] when to fold 'em.” A king who knows when to give in to his subjects doesn't experience any uprising. The wise woman gave the advice not to travel at night, and not to stop for anything. They'd do well to heed it.
We have Agur's
“he goat also” and we have Rogers's “Know[ing]
when to walk away.” In an opening scene the couple is leaving
their apartment behind, not putting anything in storage but
moving on. Good plan, that.
We have Agur's “greyhound” and Rogers's “Know[ing] when to run.” When the peripatetic couple swings by the encampment a second time looking for advice w.r.t. the nasty passenger they'd picked up, the denizens of the camp beat a hasty retreat not wanting anything to do with them or their entity.
The gambler gave the advice:
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
The movie ends with an unresolved, yea undeclared, issue of the girl's pregnancy. Sequel, anyone?
Production Values
“” (2026) was directed by André Øvredal. It was written by Zachary Donohue and T.W. Burgess. It stars Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell and Melissa Leo. Both leads did a righteous job portraying a happy couple facing an unknown peril. Melissa Leo, as Diana in a small but pivotal role, exuded all the right vibes. The demonic monster, portrayed by Joseph Lopez, is scary enough to keep one up at night.
MPA rated it R for strong violent content, some gore, and language. It did a good job of playing back and forth between a fear of the unknown and an unknown trouble, between fun and fright. Their roadside movie was the classic, “Roman Holiday” (1953.) Their patron saint was Christopher protector of travelers. It was nicely paced moving slowly along to then encounter freaky stuff. Runtime is 1 hour 34 minutes.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
This one portrayed either unchurched young people or lapsed Catholics turning to religious emblems in their distress. Hobos, homeless and vagabonds were presented in a good light, but not a mystery hitchhiker. It's good frights mixed in with life issues. One could make hay discussing it. For horror and drama aficionados.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Edge of your seat action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Good Date Movie. Suspense: Don't watch this movie alone. Overall movie rating: Three and a half stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quotation is from the Authorized Version. Pub. 1611. Rev. 1769. Software.
Rogers, Kenny. Songwriter Don Schlitz. “The Gambler.” Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Pub. LLC. Web.
Von Gottberg, Gerhard. “S.O.S. Off Libau.” Compiled in Great Short Stories Of the War. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1930. Print.
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