PASSENGER: Deja Vroom

PASSENGER (Blu-ray)

2026 / 93 min

Paramount

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Because the director is Andre Øvredal, I approached Passenger with a bit of cautious optimism. This is the guy who unleashed The Autopsy of Jane Doe on the world, which in my opinion is one of the freakiest, creepiest horror movies of the past 20 years. His subsequent films have been more conventional and less interesting, but I still hold out hope that he’ll hit another one out of the park.

While Passenger isn’t that homerun, it’s a solid double and arguably Øvredal’s best horror film since Jane Doe. Considering his efforts in the interim, that might be considered faint praise, but I enjoyed this one far more than the likes of Umma and Last Voyage of the Demeter, even if originality remains in short supply.

It begins brilliantly, though, with an atmospheric, tension-filled prologue that features a demonic figure terrorizing a couple of travelers on a dark lonely highway. The primary story begins with a young couple who’ve given up their day jobs for the freedom of van life. They come across the lone survivor from the prologue in his wrecked car and try to offer aid (to no avail). In a turn of events that’ll come as no surprise, this entity now commences pursuing and tormenting them.

"You think the cat did that?"

Much of the narrative is a series of sequences where Tyler (Jacob Scipio) and Maddie (Lou Llobell) repeatedly encounter this monstrous figure. Some perfunctory, largely unnecessary exposition is eventually provided, revealing the entity’s long, violent history of killing travelers (and is referred to as ‘The Passenger’). The movie moves in fits and starts, some truly creepy set-pieces buffered by comparatively dull character moments, though Melissa Leo makes a welcome appearance as a seasoned traveler who knows a lot about The Passenger.

Elsewhere, there are plenty of jump scares, maybe too many for its own good. For every shot that provides genuine jolts, there’s one that evokes a strong sense of deja vu. The basic premise is somewhat similar to Jeepers Creepers, though this one is more skillfully directed. Øvredal puts together some chilling moments and throws in a smattering of gore here & there for good measure. By and large, the titular terror himself is a suitably malevolent presence (until he’s fully revealed, at least). So while Passenger is hardly a genre milestone, it’s a fairly enjoyable road-horror movie with just enough going for it to be worth checking out. But here’s hoping Andre Øvredal shoots for something a bit more ambitious next time.