Passenger opens with an extended version of the scene from the trailer, shown a zillion times before this film was finally released, as Lucas (Miles Fowler – A Man On The Inside) and Daniel (Alan Trong – The Tomorrow War) stop along an empty road in the middle of the night, for one of them to pay a visit.
One violent encounter with the the titular individual later, and events move on to young couple Maddie (Lou Llobell – Foundation) and Tyler (Jacob Scipio – Bad Boys 4: Ride Or Die), who are getting into the ‘van life’ culture, as they travel across the USA.
Because reasons, they’re soon the ones being hunted, which calls from some plot exposition from guest star Melissa Leo (Snowden), who lives amongst a group of hippie pensioners, whom for no reason have long since given up the idea of home ownership, somewhere safe.
And as things go yawn in the night, on and on it goes, for a surprisingly long 94 minutes, as the pair try to escape the… Passenger, played by Joseph Lopez.
There’s even a brief subplot thrown in about a fictional influencer, Brad Fuller (James William Clark), but like most of the vehicles in this awful film once they meet the main baddie, it goes nowhere.
The only thing that sticks in the mind about this film is a scene with Maddie in a car park, as she goes back to their van – since they’ve been recommended to stay safe on the road by only using 24-hour gyms and their well-lit parking facilities* – as the camera spins around slowly, with some decent audio editing to indicate weird shit going on, and you try to work out what changes there were since last time… or wake up.
(*Naturally, such sensible advice is quickly ignored, in order to further the plot)
I can only imagine those involved didn’t watch back what they filmed, in order to realise how much tripe it is.
And I never understood ‘van life’. I remember the incredible rise of a young lady who almost-instantly achieved a million subscribers on Youtube, because she was a sole woman travelling round the USA in her pimped-out van… except that once everyone cottons on what it looks like and where you live – because you told them – all the crazies come out in the middle of the night.
NOTE: The are no mid- nor post-credits scenes.
Passenger is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 94 minutes
Release date: May 22nd 2026
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 2/10
Director: André Øvredal
Producers: Gary Dauberman, Walter Hamada
Screenplay: Zachary Donohue, TW Burgess
Music: Christopher Young
Cast:
Maddie Brecker: Lou Llobell
Tyler Genocchio: Jacob Scipio
Diana Larson: Melissa Leo
The Passenger: Joseph Lopez
Lucas Tedesco: Miles Fowler
Daniel: Alan Trong
Brad Fuller: James William Clark
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.