Spoilers got up and chose violence.
If there’s a genre that mixes with every other, it’s the thriller genre. Keeping you on the edge of your seat works good with almost everything, specially horror. That being said, a pure thriller is often unpredictable, since it promises nothing but to keep you in suspense. As such, this feature delivers in reverse. We’ll unwrap that, since it’s not really complicated. You’re going to find why in the first act.
The Passenger (2023) is directed by Carter Smith and written by Jack Stanley. Introverted and anxiety-prone, Randy Bradley (Johnny Berchtold) goes through life without trying anything. He goes to work at a dead end job in a junk food joint. It’s here that one morning, while getting pushed around by an abusive co-worker that Randy witnesses a shocking incident. Another co-worker that we’ve only seen in the background, a silent brooding type called Benson (Kyle Gallner) breaks down and goes on what can only be described as a killing spree. Strangely enough, Benson spares Randy if only to bring him along, as he decides he’s going to help him.
The movie’s initial violent first act sets the tension of the film, yet does not define the film as a whole. What we get is a tense thriller while the film centers on Randy, often called “Bradley” by everyone who mixes up his first and last name. What we get is a reverse hero’s journey as Randy is forced to revisit people from his past: a girlfriend he stopped talking to; the teacher that he accidentally left half blind when he was a kid. During this journey, Randy has to walk on eggshells to keep the dangerous Benson placated. Despite their dynamic, don’t expect this to become a buddy cop film.
A lot of things work here. You get the most tense moments at the start. However, that show of violence at the beginning does feel like it set a goal that it never accomplishes. Randy does face most of his fears. There’s no point in time in which we learn the demon that’s chasing Benson himself. As promised by a very horror-themed scene we see before the title begins, it all comes to a head when the unlikely duo end up meeting Randy’s former teacher, Miss Beard (Liza Weil). In my mind, the almost obligatory character that the film forgot should’ve been at the center of that climax would have been Randy’s over-protective mother which we only hear on the phone. The ending appears almost out of nowhere, like there should’ve been a little more stakes into it all. There’s even a “where are they now” epilogue that feels completely out of place.
Strongly recommended with reservations. Casual audiences should abstain as this film starts with a very strong horror cold open and a very violent first act. Yet, I would also warn horror audiences that this will become more of a character-driven psychological thriller. The ending comes almost too soon, and some people will feel they were cheated out of a stronger . Still very much a watch as long as you’re willing to endure some shock without expecting the film to be shocking.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 