Passenger [Movie Review]

Passenger [Movie Review] | I watched the trailer aired during The Devil Wears Prada 2 and immediately taken to it.

Did I made the right decision to watch it based on the trailer alone? 

SYNOPSIS

Passenger (2026) Trivia

• Starring: Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell & Melissa Leo
• Director: André Øvredal
• Producer: Walter Hamada & Gary Dauberman
• Production Company: 18Hz Productions & Coin Operated
• Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
• Release date: May 22, 2026
• Running time: 94 minutes
• Rating: MA
• Country: United States
• Language: English
• IMDb: 5.6/ 10
• Tomatometer: 44%
• Metascore: 52% 
• Lou Llobell did a significant portion of her own precision driving during the night sequences.
• Filmed on location in Washington state (a ranch that is a part of the largest beef co op in the country), the production utilized actual RV owners, local artisans and vendors as extras to bring its transient festival scenes to life.

The film starts with two friends, Daniel and Lucas, driving through the pitch-black. When Lucas asks for them to stop so that he can pee and Lucas is gone when he returns to the car, he thinks Lucas is pranking him. However, when an unseen force violently takes Daniel out, a panicked Lucas flees, only to become the next casualty in a brutal, tree-smashing wreck.

The movie shifts to Maddie and Tyler, a young couple six weeks into fleeing their mundane New York lives for the romanticized world of van-life. Tyler chooses a quiet residential street to propose and Maddie happily accepts. But their road-trip bliss is short-lived. After passing Lucas’s crashed car and witnessing him being dragged back into the wreckage by something inhuman, their nomadic dream turns into a waking nightmare.

By morning, their van bears three ominous claw marks, mirroring the damage on Lucas's vehicle. At a "Burning Van" traveler gathering, Maddie uncovers disturbing clues of photos of missing people and a cryptic stick figure slashed with three lines. A chilling warning from a local named Diana Marsh confirms their worst fears that they should have never, under any circumstances, stopped on the road at night, for whatever reason.

Soon, Maddie discovers dashcam footage showing a shadowy entity sitting right next to Lucas before his crash. Known to locals as The Passenger, this malevolent spirit hitches a ride with unsuspecting motorists and refuses to leave until they are dead. From terrifying seatbelt strangulations to a chaotic ambush during an outdoor screening of a romantic movie in the woods, the entity relentlessly stalks the couple across state lines. 

Desperate for answers, Maddie and Tyler seek out Diana in Flagstaff, hunting for a mythical, unmapped Church of St. Christopher that promises refuge. But with The Passenger closing in, cutting off their allies one by one and actively trying to tear them apart, the open road becomes a claustrophobic trap.

Will Maddie and Tyler’s bond be enough to outrun the entity?

MY REVIEW

What I Like:  

• The atmosphere of pitch-black roads certainly triggered some anxiety inside me.  
• A good cast as everyone delivered beautifully. 
• Some beautiful, terrifying scenes in here (the moving van in the parking lot as an example).

What I Don't Like:

• No new formula here. 

Will I Watch It Again: Yes, I don't mind watching it again. 

Overall: 4.1/ 5.0

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

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