What begins as a simple act of roadside kindness becomes a surprisingly effective supernatural nightmare, and thanks to André Øvredal’s suspenseful direction and a genuinely inspired mythological core, Passenger deserves to be remembered as one of the year’s best horror films.
I remember a family summer vacation when I was a child. One night, our car broke down on the road, and a passing truck driver stopped in the middle of the highway just for us. He used his headlights to give us some light and tried to help us fix the car. Granted, his good intentions didn’t actually work and we still had to call a tow truck. But the fact that he stopped just for us, turned on his headlights to light up the darkness, and tried his best to help us fix the car taught me something that even the greatest fairy tales ever written could never teach: the beauty of people helping each other unconditionally.
What I’ve told you so far may have moved you. It may even have restored a little bit of your faith in humanity. Well then, brace yourselves. Because Norwegian filmmaker André Øvredal’s latest horror film, Passenger, offers the kind of suspense and horror that will make sure you never even consider helping a stranded driver ever again.
At first glance, Øvredal’s movie seems like the weakest link in the recent wave of low-budget horror films that have been praised by both critics and audiences. But that’s not really the case. Because no matter what anyone says, nobody could ever convince me that the director of The Autopsy of Jane Doe had made a bad film. Contrary to what most critics and audiences seem to think, I can comfortably say that this isn’t a bad movie at all. In fact, it’s a genuinely good one. Between us, it’s definitely better than Backrooms.
The film follows Maddie and Tyler, a young couple who have grown tired of city life. They sell everything they own, move into a fully equipped van, and set off across America to live out their dream of freedom on the open road. The truth is, though, that this isn’t really Maddie’s dream. She is mostly there to support Tyler’s. In my opinion, being dragged into a lifestyle you’re not even that fond of just because your partner wants it sounds more terrifying than anything in this movie, but anyway, let’s get back to the film.
At first, the adventure is fun and romantic. They discover new places and live the kind of carefree life that most of us dream about. But before long, their journey turns into a nightmare, and events begin to unfold in a way that is the antithesis of the nice little story I told you a moment ago.
One night, they come across a crashed vehicle on the side of the road and stop to help. Inside the car is a creepy, pale-skinned, elderly-looking demonic entity. This creature latches onto people who stop on the road at night or become involved in accidents, then relentlessly hunts them down and kills them. Without realizing it, the couple becomes infected by the curse, and the entity refuses to leave them alone.
By the way, I should admit that I never managed to take this demon completely seriously because, for some strange reason, it reminded me of Baron Afanas from the comedy series What We Do in the Shadows. More than once, I caught myself smiling when I probably wasn’t supposed to.
Throughout the film, Maddie and Tyler desperately run and fight for their lives, trying to escape the mysterious entity. Along the way, they meet an experienced woman named Diana, who tries to help them. She tells them that the only way to get rid of the creature is to reach St. Christopher’s Church.
As all of this unfolds, the couple’s relationship is pushed to its limits. Maddie wants to return to a normal life, while Tyler remains stubbornly committed to staying on the road for reasons that become increasingly difficult to understand. Tyler really is the kind of person that makes you want to slap him across the face in real life.
The decision to make St. Christopher’s Church the only way for Maddie and Tyler to escape the demon is probably my favorite aspect of the entire film. Because, according to tradition, St. Christopher devoted himself to protecting travelers. In Christian lore, he is the patron saint of travelers. In fact, images of him are often placed inside vehicles because of the belief that he protects people during their journeys. And our protagonists can only free themselves from this evil presence through him.
Let me put it this way: this idea, which blends real-life mythology and fiction so beautifully, is a thousand times more creative and moving than that Backrooms nonsense the whole world seems so eager to praise.
The biggest reason this film failed to make much of an impact is that Paramount didn’t seem particularly interested in it and apparently wasn’t willing to spend much money marketing it. Passenger is absolutely one of the best horror films of the year. In this recent wave of low-budget horror releases arriving one after another, it doesn’t deserve to be remembered as the weakest link in the chain. It deserves to be at the very top of it.
That concludes our review of Passenger
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